I read this at the gym earlier today.  When I think about my cravings and when I have them, this has some merit. 

You crave: Salty or greasy food

It could mean: You’re slightly dehydrated. “Salt holds water in,” says Glassman. “Your body may be trying to hang onto the fluids it’s got. Aim for eight glasses of water a day.

You crave: Candy or chocolate

It could mean: You need protein. Without its slow-releasing energy, your body will try to get a quick fix to boost blood sugar. Try a cup of yogurt—it has 24 percent of your daily total.

You crave: Bread or pasta

It could mean: You don’t eat enough! Starches are already partially broken down, so your body knows carbs will give it energy fast. Be sure to eat at least 1,200 calories a day.

Lately I’ve had a lengthy commute home after work.  Often I’m too brain fried to listen to music, especially after listening to it all day.  So one evening on my way home I was hunting around for talk radio on the good ole AM.  I wasn’t running across anything besides sports and commercials.  Finally at one point, someone was talking and the guy was giving a caller advice, and being my nosey self, decided to take a listen.  Turned out it was Dave Ramsey.  I’d never heard of him before, but he is sort of the Dr. Laura / Dear Abby of faith, family and finance.  The guy has made and  lost millions and formulated a financial strategy of sorts to get people out of the old financial hole with common sense.  I like what he has to say and gives everyone very sound advice.

If you get a chance, check it out. 

In follow up, I emailed all of Squid’s teachers notifying them of the fact that she wouldn’t be allowed on the computer at either house anymore and why. I said unless they could assure me that school computers wouldn’t allow her access to Myspace and email, that all future work would be handwritten and projects would be done using library materials the old fashioned way.

I heard from one teacher who informed me he/she no longer has her in class, the other from her very communicative math teacher, who was very supportive. Would you believe that none of the others, including the teacher who has her for 3 classes and requires all work done on the computer and saved to a jump drive, responded in any way?

Ironically, every single one of them responded enthusiastically and immediately when I requested weekly signoff on homework progress reports.  I guess it’s more important to help our kids keep their cellphone priviledges than to help parents protect and raise our kids in a safe, secure environment.  How sad is that? 

How do we raise kids in today’s world with all of the great new technologies, allowing them to enjoy them, but also protecting them from the unknown predators (in many forms) who also enjoy the same technologies.  How do we keep our kids safe from themselves?

The current issue at hand has to do with a certain, unnamed youngin’, who’s Dad allowed her back on the internet, after having lost access to it how many times! and “I’ve learned my lesson”, only to find out through her activities on a certain site popular to teens, that all promises have not been honored. 

Keeping in mind, that this certain unnamed young teen, was not given internet priviledges at her mother’s house.  In fact, a separate account was created for her on XP, internet related programs could not be removed so we hid them by taking them off the desktop.  Apparently she’s a little more computer savvy than we gave her credit for.  Turns out while on the computer “doing homework” on Word, she was also secretly carrying on online conversations while her mother was standing just a matter of a foot or two away, walking around and even looking at what she was doing.  Is that ballsy or what?!  To frost the cake, while she was doing this, she was being snottily confrontational with her mother, boldly stating “you just don’t trust me!”.

Back in the day, when parents wanted to know what their kids were really up to, they read diaries and did room searches.  Now they just have to read txt messages in cellphones, personal webpages and online conversations with friends.  Forget National Enquirer, just read these…more scandal there than you could ever imagine.

 I know you have plenty to say….don’t be shy, bring it on.

This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it everyday.  You may not realize it, but it’s 100% true.

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way. 

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you. 

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you. 

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep. 

6. You mean the world to someone. 

7. You are special and unique. 

8. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you. 

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it. 

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look. 

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks. 

Always remember….when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and >salt, and call me over!

Good friends are like stars……..You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there. 

“Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though Sometimes It’s Hell in the Hallway”.

I would rather have one rose and a kind word from a friend while I’m here than a whole truck load when I’m gone.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill

and a black lace bra…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

One friend who always makes her laugh…

and one who lets her cry…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

A good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,

and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

A feeling of control over her destiny…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

How to fall in love without losing herself…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

How to quit a job,

Break up with a lover

and confront a friend without ruining the friendship…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

When to try harder and WHEN TO WALK AWAY…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

That she can’t change the length of her calves,

the width of her hips, or

the nature of her parents…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

That her childhood may not have been perfect…

but it’s over…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

What she would and wouldn’t do for love or more…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

How to live alone even if she doesn’t like it…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

Whom she can trust and whom she can’t

And why she shouldn’t take it personally…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

Where to go…

Be it her best friend’s kitchen table or a charming inn in the woods

When her soul needs soothing…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

What she can and can’t accomplish

In a day

A month

And a year…

Author Unknown

Life is a mirror. When you smile at it, it is charming and when you frown at it, it is sinister. It is what you are and not what you see.

There are certain triggers throughout the year that cause me to reflect.  Squid’s 14th birthday was one.  I was wrapping her presents last night, after a long day of prepping, then actually having her party…and a skating one at that.  Does that start to bring back memories or a feeling of familiarity for anyone? 

Anyway, I always write something somewhat sentimental  in her card, and although I always get her some of the forgettable things I know she wants, I always get her something meaningful or plan a memorable activity as well.  The kids especially get so many gifts around their birthdays and at Christmas.  If you’re lucky like her, you’ve got birthday and Christmas practically back to back.  Now keep track of who got you what, and let’s not forget about the grandparents who buy out entire stores for each event, and you see how that can all start to run together.  

What you don’t forget, however is the year of your 12th birthday when a family heirloom was passed down from a great grandmother, or the year a whole surprise evening was planned involving tickets to the Nutcracker (for the first time) with a very good family friend (almost Aunt-like) and dinner. You don’t forget the whole rite of passage on your 13th birthday when you go for your first pedicure with “the girls”, got your furry phone for your room, and amongst a variety of necessities for sleepovers including furry frog slippers and cool pajamas, sparkly makeup followed a bit later by another surprise personalized instructional visit with a very cool makeup professional.   I could continue but you get the general idea.  The point being, you forget and eventually throw away the sparkly pens, the stuffed animals, and other miscellaneous stuff, but these other things stick with you forever.

 So as I was writing her card, I started thinking about when I was pregnant with her, the labor & delivery, her as a toddler, etc. , and how overnight she went from looking and acting like a kid, and for a while with one foot in the land of teen and the other still watching the Disney channel, and all of a sudden she grew about a foot in a week and the kid is completely gone.  She’s a teen now. How fast the time has flown by.  Maybe not while it was all happening, but definitely so in hindsight.  Kinda started to freak me out a bit, and yes, quite choked up.

It was quite humorous watching her friends at the party too.  I remember being that age, the things that were important to us, whatever drama was going on, who my friends were, who was really, really cute (“hot”wasn’t the term yet), and overall just “knowing” we were cool.  As if there was any doubt.

Funny how things change and yet stay the same.  MTV had just come out, funny it’s still in, but boy, has it changed!  Parents are still in an uproar over it’s content and vulgarity.  The scary slasher movies are still in, but notice they’re remaking everything.  Nobody aside from Stephen King has any original ideas? We had a whole genre of movies including the Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles (who could EVER forget that one), Footloose, etc., that all covered teen angst (what girl wouldn’t have given everything she had to be on the table with Jake Ryan blowing out those candles?) and all the other issues that were meaningful to us.  The kids now don’t have that. Theirs now revolve now around being hateful toward their families and even more so to each other in school.  It’s too bad.  Maybe they should create a new bratpack and start remaking those classics!

To punish a teen then meant being grounded from the phone, now you take away their cellphone and make them use the home phone (you know, that thing we refer to as a landline) and their whole world is crashing down around them.  Instead of being grounded from tv, you take it out of their room.

Did I go off on a bit of a tangent?  Be grateful for the distraction.  It was better than pondering how I got a 14 year old kid who keeps getting older and I’m not.  That’s truly scary.

People always use sound effects, facial expressions and sympathy when talking to people with teenagers.  It starts when the kid(s) in question are approaching their 12th birthday(s).  Everyone warned me about how terrible 12 would be, and honestly, it was one of the easier ones.  It gave me a false sense of being ok with things to come….8 – 12 were horrible, horrible years.  I lost the mother of the year award on a daily basis.  So much so in fact, that one of my friends told me I should call on a day when I hadn’t lost it and my response was that he’d never hear from me again.

Squid turned 12 in November of 6th grade.  Aside from homework related issues, constant detention for chewing gum in class, talking incessantly during class, and consistently tardy, her attitude and disposition were great.  Her room was still a nightmare, but overall I could handle it.

 7th grade brought the 13th birthday, but from the day school started in the fall, the non-stop debate over hair, makeup, length of skirts & earrings were a constant in our household.  Detention, non-production of homework, and a scary room continued.

 8th grade and approaching 14th birthday have now brought a need to debate, challenge and correct everything(!) regardless of whether or not she’s right or even knows what she’s talking about!!, along with the endless hours of straightening hair that can’t get any straighter, makeup, “borrowing” things that never return to their point of origin, thus never to be seen again.  Squid’s also mastered the art of eye rolling and the nasal sound of irritation that accompanies the eye rolling.  “Nice” comes with an upcoming request for either a ride, a purchase with Mom’s money or a deviance on chores, bedtimes or some other miscellaneous item, or a visiting witness in one form or another. 

In light of my personal experience, which I know is shared with many, many others, I’ve come to the conclusion that the attitude is not age related but inflicted by grade.  Summers are a continum of the grade just completed, which is why sleep away summer camp was invented!  I think for the right amount of money, it could be arranged for camp administrators to send our little tyrants revisiting their terrible snotty two’s straight to military school!!