Thursday, May 07, 2009

Dear Jonnie as you turn 6

Dear Jonnie,

I write this on the eve of your 6th birthday. I can't believe how quickly these six years have gone by that you've been in my life.

It seems like only yesterday that you were born and had to go back to the hospital because of jaundice. Granny Smith was by my side as I sat in a chair by your ultraviolet box and cried. I blamed myself for your plight with everything from having drank too much orange juice to the orange cheese (which you love) on McDonald's hamburgers.

You and I spend a lot of time together. As an infant, you were sick a good bit and Dad could not take time off work to stay home when you were sick. Of course, we had 12 weeks together while I was on leave from work. We have Saturdays when Daddy shoots plus his trips to state and national matches. We have evenings when Daddy has Knights meetings and we have the time when Daddy is watching NASCAR.

I've tried to be a mother and a father to you. I think you've come to learn that I'm not so good at fixing things like the TV when it breaks. I guess that's the advantage to having so many because we can go to another room.

I'm by no means perfect and I think you've learned to realize this. I'm stubborn and tempermental and I don't tolerate being told what to do in my personal life. Unfortunately, my stubborness meant that you have no birthday party with your friends this year. Pap-Pap gave you a family party at Easter but I know that's not the same. I promise that next year you will have a party with your new friends that you make at Plain City Elementary as you enter first grade in the fall. As for a family party, someone else can do that.

I Love You, Jonnie, more than words can say. I know it doesn't always show especially on my stressed out day but I do Love You Very, Very Much.

Happy Birthday with Love,

Mama

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Letter to NASCAR

Dear NASCAR,

I did not realize how inconsistent or varied your racing schedule was until I sat down during breakfast this morning and started entering races onto my calendar so I know when my husband is not available. Jon's family is strict about watching the races; he is called to make sure he is watching the race sometimes at the beginning, middle, or toward the end. To avoid conflicts and the wasting of money like I did when I bought hockey tickets for a game that conflicted with NASCAR, I am putting your races on my Outlook calendar.

I've only entered races through September 6th at this time but I was blown away at how often the races change. You have a few on Saturday nights but most are on Sundays. Some start at 12:30, some at 1:30, some at 3:30. We had family outings scheduled on Sundays that I had to cancel once I realized that it conflicted with NASCAR, specifically Sprint Cup, races. Since my husband has the membership to the recreation center, my son & I cannot go without him. Once I enter the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule into my calendar, I know there are more Sunday family outings that will have to be canceled.

It would be wonderful if you could offer consistency in your schedule. If I know that from February through November that my husband is unavailable 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM because of a Sprint Cup races, that would be preferable. Of course, asking NASCAR to change its scheduling is probably as likely as it is for my husband's family to loosen its strictness on race viewing.

A Dale JR Fan and former NASCAR race viewer,


Jodi L. Santini

(PS - I'm not actually sending this to NASCAR. I just needed to get my frustration out! I used to watch NASCAR regularly but since the spying started to make sure we were watching, I frankly got pissed off and stopped watching on purpose.)

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Redecorating without dollars

At the end of last week, I moved into what used to be our spare bedroom. My husband had been in that room for 3 weeks but when he went back on call for work, I quickly realized after 2 calls in the middle of the night that it made no sense for the phones he's called on to be in a different room. I'd rather not schlep phones down the hall in the wee hours of the morning. Jon is also a difficult person to wake up so he needed to be next to his alarm clock again.

I've been in my new bedroom for only a few days and I have the urge to redecorate. However, with car repair bills, school tuition, summer camp, and vacations there really isn't the extra money for me to run out and buy new stuff. For years when we shared a bedroom, Jon's tastes ruled the bedding choices so we've had varying comforters of black & gray. Now that on-call and constant snoring has lead to different sleeping arrangements, I feel like a little girl again and want a more feminine room. Right now, I have a quilt on the bed that my Mom made that is shades of lavendar and white. I needed something lighter-weight than the heavy black & white plaid comforter that had been on the bed. Of course, the plaid bedskirt that matched the comforter is on the bed. I was looking for bedspreads on-line and kept going toward ones that had roses. I keep thinking that we still have a bedspread in the basement that my mother-in-law gave us when we got our first apartment and it's got roses on it. We only used it a short time before Jon found a black comforter for the bed. The bedspread had matching valances so I would have to get brackets so the valances can go on the windows with the wood blinds. You can see pictures of my room in my album called My Blah New Bedroom on my Facebook page.

We had a lot of pictures up on the walls at our old house. I found a box of pictures and it was boy scout patches in a large frame and Jon's certificate. Not quite what I'm wanting on the walls in my room. I love the desk and night stand in the room. There is a mirror over the bed that matches them although I'll admit that the mirror sometimes makes me nervous. I'd love to get rid of the TV but since Jonnie sometimes likes to come into my room at night, I'd probably better keep it.

Does anyone have any ideas to share with me on redecorating my room without (or with very few) dollars? I'd love to hear from you if you do!!