A New Job, a New Injury, a New Almost Outlaw, and Ways My Kids Showed Me Up, 7QT

The last 4 days have been full of firsts for our family.  New adventures experienced, new skills learned, talents newly unveiled, new lows in the I don't feel like doing it department.  I'm going to use my quick takes to tell you about 7 of them.

(Quick Takes are hosted by Jennifer Fulwiler.  She is becoming quite famous in Catholic circles, on national radio and everything to talk about her new book, Something Other than God, in which she tells of her conversion from atheism.)

 ******* First First ******

I have been taking the productive route this week, which included several days of mowing while the little boys had their quiet (there-is-no-way-we-are-going-to-nap-no-matter-how-tired-we-are) time.  While mowing I came across a dead raccoon, which I estimate to be somewhere between 30 and 150 pounds.  For the first time ever, (because yes, I come across dead animals in the yard all the time) I chose to not move it.  I actually mowed around the nasty, smelly thing.  I just wasn't in the mood for dealing with that mess. To dust that raccoon shall return, right where it was dropped off by the dogs.

(I'm going to save you from vomiting in your mouth and not show you a photo of the decaying coon.)

******** Second First **********

Buttercup has finally become part of the gainfully employed by refereeing a soccer game this week.  It was cold and rainy, and she was completely miserable.  But she earned $12 for that one hour of miserable.  Totally worth it.  This is a skill she will be able to use to make some great money throughout high school and college and into adulthood if she wants.  When she refs a tournament weekend, she can come home with almost $200 in her pocket.

This was supposed to be a photo off Buttercup in her ref outfit on the field.  As my camera was focusing, this goober parked illegally in order to watch the game from his car.  Buttercup is right on the other side of him.

************ Third First ***********

We play a lot of games at our house, and I am the kind of parent who doesn't let my children win.  They have to earn that title of champion Boggle player, and are happy to do it.  Lately, Cuckoo has been wanting to play checkers.  While he does know how to play, I easily beat him while guiding him to look at moves differently.  On Thursday, I wasn't paying the closest of attention.  Like the hare, I was overly confident and didn't give Cuckoo enough credit.  (In my defense, he is only 4 and a half.)  And like that pesky Tortoise who slowly and steadily beat the hare, he cleverly and methodically took me out.  Fair and square.

*********** Fourth First *************

Our family is not known for our singing ability.  When the kids try out for the school musical, they get put in roles that have absolutely no singing involved.  The music teacher actually lets them down nicely by saying, "This song just isn't right for your voice."   Bryan has no idea how to keep a beat, let alone stay on tune.  I sound fantastic in my own head while I am belting out a good 80s song, but no one else seems to agree.  The lack of ability in the children is expected.  And then this week, Giant shocked us all.  He was actually chosen to be a cantor at the school Mass.  Sitting in the back of church, I heard him belt out his verse of the Responsorial psalm.  He hit the notes.  On time.  And it was good.  Shocking, I tell you!

************* Fifth First **********

After last year was dubbed Year of the Broken Bones, we have been doing great about staying injury-free since the new year began.  Unfortunately, that changed this week.  While goofing of with his brothers before Buttercup's soccer game on Sunday afternoon, Turken hurt himself.  It wasn't until Monday morning, when he started walking crookedly and not using his left arm and complaining that his shoulder hurt and had a big lump of swelling show up on his collar, that we thought to get him checked out.  Aaaaand, he has a broken collar bone.  While it is not the first time we put off taking a kid with a broken bone to the doctor, it is the first time we did it with this particular child.  And with that, Turken is inducted into the Coop of Broken Bone Doom.

Full of pain-killing ibuprofen.  This is his tough face.

****************** Sixth First **************

Star is known as the "cup mostly empty" guy in our family.  He just has a knack for sniffing out the bad in a situation, regardless of how good the rest of the situation is.  Star has a giant jerk as a soccer coach, and his full jerkness came out swinging against Star during their tournament this weekend.  I was beyond livid the entire two days.  However, I knew that if I said anything, it would only get worse.  (As Clark would be quick to point out...) Biting my tongue is not an easy thing for me to do, so I got very little sleep.  Dreaming up all of the ways I would love to tell this guy off kept me up much of the night.  As we were heading home on Sunday, Star shocked me.  For the first time ever, that child had a better attitude than me.  Not only was he not livid, he wasn't the least bit mad.  While I was ready to head to the soccer fields on Monday, demanding Star be moved to a different team, he was calm and rational, telling me to wait and see how things progressed during the season.  While I shouted, "Shut up and get mad like me!" in my head, I agreed to do things the way he wanted.
He proved to be right.  There was another game on Wednesday.  Star shined, making one of the best blocks I have ever seen.  (He's a goalkeeper.)  The kids on his team, the other team's coach, and his own coach showered him with high fives and "great jobs".  Star managed to show the jerk that the jerk had made a mistake, and he did it in his own way.

*********** Seventh First ***********

Four ladies and a Canadian walk into an Olive Garden...

The four ladies would be three other soccer moms and me.  The Canadian would be my mom, who joined Star and me at the tournament.  The players and the dads went to a pro soccer game Saturday night, so the ladies went out for dinner and a drink.
During the meal, we told lots of funny stories and laughed our heads off.
It was prom night, so lots of couples were in the restaurant in all their prom finery.  As the girls finished their meals and headed for the door, we asked them to stop at our table and show off their dresses, shoes, and flowers.  The girls were thrilled, showing off and telling us all about their dresses, their dates, and their accessories.
At one point after we were done eating, we asked our waiter to get us a second round of drinks.  (There was a bit of a wait before we were seated, so we each grabbed a first cocktail from the bar before we got to the table.)

He replied, "I'm sorry.  My manager said I have to cut you off."

We, of course, thought he was joking.  We're 5 of the most straight-laced women you have ever met, so of course we laughed.  I mean, I'm 42 years old, and I was there with my mom, for crying out loud!

He didn't laugh with us, but simply handed us our bill.

Apparently, there was a complaint about us being too loud.

I tell you what, that will put a damper on a fun evening real quick.

For about 5 seconds.

We paid our bill and walked on out.

Then laughed even harder and louder.

For hours.

In all my years of eating out, through the rowdiness of college and the disaster of toddler temper tantrums, I have never been asked to leave a restaurant.

I guess there really is a first time for everything!

If you are so inclined, head on over to Jen's to read the lists of other, more law-abiding, respectable ladies.

Have a lovely day!