March 2018

March started off wet but fun.  Mrs. Thompson my co-teacher at work through me a surprise party.  She had all the kids make me cards, had a cake and a really nice gift.  I wish that I would had gotten pictures but it was a surprise and I did not know I needed my camera.

That evening I took CJ to piano lessons and on the way home we just got talking.  She wants to get black lipstick to wear.  I told her that if you wanted that we would get it.  We also started talking about boys because I know that she is getting to that age.  When I was almost 13 I had crushes on boys but boys did not even like me until college.  So I asked CJ about boys because she is always going "OOH, Gross!" I found out that she has been "asked out" by 3 boys; one at school that she just told that she is to young to date, one at Hebrew school (I kind of thought that was happening) but when she told him no he moved on to another girl in their class, and then their was the boy from camp that she told they only now each other for 2 weeks and he lived in Florida.  I told CJ that I was not upset and thought that was great that boys liked her, but she was right she was to young to have a boyfriend, but it was OK to talk to mommy about it and I would not be mad.  On the other hand daddy is daddy and may get upset.  I think the funny thing about her talking to me was that when we got home in the mail was an invitation to Nathan's Bar Mitzvah.  That was the boy from camp that had asked her out.  She was almost embarrass about the invitation, but still wanted to keep the card.   We could not go to the Bar Mitzvah because of another one that we are going to on the same date and school.  CJ is growing up so fast. 

This year of Purim the theme was Hawaiian Luau.  CJ these days just take off to hang out with her friends and only comes sees me if she needs money.  It was hard to get pictures of her but she did have fun before she had to go to tutoring and Choir practice. 

On Thursday was Mrs. Thompson's Birthday so I had to get her back for throwing me the surprise party.  CJ helped me decorate her door and we got a cake.  She loved everything. 

Saturday was CJ's best friend Millie's birthday party.  They were suppose to go hiking and I wanted to go with.  CJ did not want me to go with to the party.  She said that she wanted to hang out with her friends with out me.  Millie said that I could come with, so when I told CJ that Millie said I could come to the party she told me that I could go as long as a only hang out with the other parents. In the end the hike got cancelled do to cold and rain.  They all ended up just going to the movies.  So I did not stick around.  I just dropped CJ off at the party and went shopping with Jay.  Jay and I had a very nice afternoon together.  I always worry that Jay and I are so different that when I do not have CJ around want will Jay and I talk about, but when we do get to spend time alone together we have such a nice time and I really love spending time just the two of us.

On Sunday CJ had Hebrew school and then tutoring.  During tutoring CJ asked Rabbi if she could do some different things at her Bat Mitzvah.  Rabbi told her that it was up to the new Rabbi.  This made CJ very sad to remember that Rabbi Master was not going to be at her Bat Mitzvah.  I think that it also made Rabbi sad as well because CJ said that they were both very quiet after that and the session ended early.  It is hard on all of us to know that Rabbi is leaving only one month before CJ's Bat Mitzvah but we will get it all worked out.  After the session, CJ was to go to Choir practice at a church in Travelers Rest, in the car there we talked and then I told her out for ice cream to make her feel better about because she was so sad.  We were late to the practice which did not made Laura happy but I know that if I took CJ to practice in the mood she was in she would just sit there and not sing.  I had to give her time.  Between Piano and Choir CJ is not liking practicing music so much. She loves to still sing but does not love formal practice.

The next weekend was great.  CJ on Friday when to NFTY-SAR Hatikvah in Atlanta.  This was a Jewish Youth event.  She was so excited about it.  While we wanted for Joanne to pick her up, every car that went by CJ would ask, "Is that a Suburban?"  which was the car that Joanne was going to pick CJ up in.  CJ was so excited about getting to ride down with all the other kids.  After I dropped her off I went home and Jay took me out for dinner.  He took me to a Vietnamese restaurant which is one of my favorites.  Then next morning we got up and the weather was warm for the first time all winter.  We drove up to Biltmore and spent the day walking the grounds and having a picnic lunch.  It was a beautiful day, so peaceful and romantic.  I could not have asked for a better day with my husband.

Sunday I got up early and drove to Atlanta to pick CJ up.  She was happy to see me and tell me all about what a great time she had.  She said that he host family that she stayed with were great and even served her bacon for dinner.  She got to see some people that were at camp last summer and met new friends.  I also worry about her when she goes to these events but she is always just fine and has a great time.  I just worry that she will not make friends and be shy because she is not all rambunctious like some other kids her age.

After I picked her up we went to the American Girl doll store which was only 10 minutes away from the Temple she was at. I am still surprised that  she wanted to go and even get some doll clothes.  Sometimes I am so glad that she has not grown out of her American girl dolls. 

She then wanted to go to Saphora  where I got her a mini facial and I bought her a bunch of cleaning stuff to help with her acne.  She also wanted to get some black eye shadow and lipstick.  The young man that give her the facial also did a mini makeup lesson with her.  He talk to her about not going overboard with all the black.  I did get her some black lipstick and she wore it all weekend when that was the end of the black lipstick.  She has not worn it since. Which as a mom I am ok with because it was a little extreme.  But I did have to let her be herself and experiment with different styles.

 After we left the Mall we went to the airport to pick up Cathy and Darrell.  I had taken Monday off work so that we could spend time with them.  CJ and I were so excited.  We had not seen them in 2 years and could not wait for them to get off the plane.  The Atlanta airport is big and very confusing but we were able to find were we needed to be and were so happy when they arrived.  Cathy and I did like we always do and just talked and talked and talked.  We had a lot of caught up to do.  Darrell kept picking on CJ and trying to get her to laugh.  As much as she did not want to laugh at his silliness she could not help it.  She share does love her Uncle Darrell and Aunt Cathy. The next morning we got up and went to the World of Coke.  CJ wanted to do the Atlanta Aquarium but it was a little pricey and  it would have taken a long time to get through.  Cathy and Darrel were still pretty tired from the time change and the trip out.  The World of Coke were kind of neat.  We got to hear about the history of Coke and how it all got started.  We then got to sample different Coke products from all around the world.  They also had a lot of art work which CJ liked.  CJ liked sampling all the different cokes and designing a Coke bottle on the computer.

After we left the World of Coke we take CJ to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.  I was not impressed with the food, prices, or service.  $15 for an over cooked hamburger with nothing on it was a little much for me.  CJ enjoyed the music videos but she was not overly impressed with the food either.  But it was a mini vacation so we had to do the tourist stuff.  When then went back to the hotel so that Darrell could get some rest. CJ, Cathy, and I went down stair to check out the hotel.  Cathy and I found a good place to sit and talk while CJ rode the escalator and then found that riding the glass elevator to the 43rd floor and back down again was like an amusement park ride. She rode the elevator until she got dizzy.  It was fun just watching her go up and down standing at the glass.  I wish I would have gotten a good picture of it. 

I did no plan on going home until 7:00 that night but by 5:00 I was already getting tired and so was CJ.  I could also see that Cathy and Darrell were tired and need some time to settle in before Cathy started her conference schedule on Tuesday.  CJ and I left and drove back home sad but glad that we got to spend the day with Cathy and Darrell.  CJ got in the car and went right to sleep.  When I got home I was very tired as well.  I was glad that I left a little early because I am not sure I would have been able to stay awake to drive if it was later.  

That night I woke up about 3 in the morning with one of my really bad migraines.  I started throwing up and could not keep my medication down. By the time we had to get ready to go to school I was still sick and throwing up but because I missed the day before I really did not think that I could miss school again.  So I grabbed all my meds and went to school. Bad Idea!  I was still sick by the time my kids came in and could not teach, I also was so sick that I could not drive myself back home.  Mrs. Artman the assistance Principal came in and took me the nurses office to lie down until my meds kicked in and I could go back to teacher or just drive home.  They had to split my kids.  It was not until 2:00 because I was feeling well enough to go home and by that time school was almost done so I just stayed until CJ got out and we went home were I just want right back to bed.  Jay told me that I should have just stayed home that I have a great work ethic but no common sense when it comes to being sick.

Because I missed Monday, Tuesday, and then Thursday because of the 6th grade field trip I felt like I missed all week and could not get it together.  

Friday night we went to temple because it was my friend Margy's 88th birthday.  CJ song her happy birthday in Hebrew and she almost cried she was so happy for all the birthday decorations, gifts, and singing. 

The next day we got up and all of us drove to Atlanta to see Cathy and Darrell one more time before they got on the plane to go home.  We did not know that Atlanta traffic was going to be so bad or that there were anti gun rallies going on down town.  People were jumping out of their cars to run to the rally and people everywhere.  It was crazy and Jay did not handle the stress of traffic well.  After we finely got to down town and picked up Cathy and Darrel, Jay wanted to take them to see Stone Mountain.  Stone Mountain is where Jay would always take Garrett for his birthday and has lots of great memories for him so he wanted to share it with Cathy and Darrel. We did not spend a long time at Stone Mountain because again Jay was very afraid of the traffic and being late to the airport.  But we had a very nice visit and Jay was very glad that he got to see Darrell.  He just wish the traffic would not have been so bad and that Darrell was feeling better.  Jay said that despite the fact that he wishes he would have never come to Atlanta because he despises it so much he was so glad that he was able to see his friends. 

On the way home Jay did not want to go back through Atlanta so we drove home the back way.  It was a long drive but as we got outside the city I could see Jay finely start to relax.  

So before CJ want to Hatikvah we got her a fish.  She made sure that the water was right and for about 2 weeks the fish did great.  Then all the sudden her fish started to look sick and I know that it was going to die on her.  I did not take any pictures of the fish because I did not want to make CJ sad.  CJ started trying to find out want was wrong with her fish.  She found out that it had want was called clamped fins and it could be caused my many things.  She started slow by checking the PH in the water and changing the fishes water. We spent about $40 getting stuff for her to check the PH and add to the water to help get the PH correct. This was not working.  She checked the water temp and tried to leave the light on to warm the water some. She then noticed that the fish had some white spots and was not eating.  By this time all the fish did was lay on the bottom of the tank and I know it was died.  She just did not move.  CJ kept trying to find what was wrong and fix it.  She found out that the white may not just be from dying but a fungus or bacteria.  We went out and got her the pills she needed to put in the water to help with that which was another $20.  But by morning the fish was starting to swim a little and eat.  We did another treatment (she had to put a half a pill in the water for 5 days).  By the next day the fish looked like a new fish swimming around and doing great.  CJ saved the fish.  After a week he is a happy little fish named Flash. 

The last day of the month was the start of spring break and Passover.  On Saturday we want to Temple for the 2nd night Seder.  I helped with the set up and clean up.  It was a very nice dinner and I enjoyed helping.  I think CJ did to but she really enjoyed playing with her friends more.