Fears

Hmmmm....Hubby pointed out some very interesting things in my post.  Please don't tell anyone I'm an English teacher!  I thought I'd go through with my red pen and do some editing.

Thanks for all the ideas!  In answer to Fawn:

What do I fear?
I usually think of myself as strong, powerful, and unstoppable.  Then I start listing my fears and phobias, and I realize I am a bit of a wimp.
Spiders, the dark, sharks, small confined areas, suffocating, and heights are normal enough fears.  And I have them all.  Oh, and snakes. <=This is not a sentence.  It is a sentence fragment.  Snakes are bad.  So what else makes my heart stop?
The idea that something has happened to my children terrifies me.  When they were babies I checked on them constantly to make sure they were breathing.  Now, I try to not think about all the dangers they face every day, Do I not think every day, or is it the dangers "every day"?  What exactly is "every day" referring to? or I'd lose my mind. Hyperbole.  
I don't like planes or ferries, because both of them connect a few of the "basic" Why is this in italics?   fears.  Small spaces, heights (in the plane)Heights are in the plane?  Really?  That seems unlikely. and sharks (when the plane crashes).  I am a DELIGHT to travel with!!

It might be easier to list things I am NOT afraid of.
I have absolutely no problem talking to strangers.  In my world, there are no strangers. Hmmmm.  Don't you live on the same planet as the rest of us?  There are strangers.  By definition, there are strangers.  I chat with people in line at the store.  I strike up conversations on the street.  I will chatter with just about anyone.
I am not at all afraid of mice or other small creatures.  I have eaten all sorts of odd things, and I'm not shy about trying new things. Oh my.  There are so many things gone wrong here.  What kind of paragraph goes from "mice or other small creatures" to "I have eaten..."  Have I eaten the mice?  And as for trying new things, am I eating new things?  Are the bears etc waiting to be eaten ??  Did my FIL teach me to eat those foods, or to not feed them??   Bears, moose, and other wildlife are simply friends waiting for a snack. (Yes, I know better.  My father in law taught me well.)
I think I'm fairly normal in my fears.  I admit, some of them are a bit extreme.  For example, I'm not just scared of sharks.  I worry about sharks in lakes, ponds, and rivers. I really shouldn't worry about those sharks.  If they are surviving in such odd places, they don't need my concern.   I've even kept an eye out for them in the pool.
Tell me....what are YOU afraid of??

Students: Not so helpful

I asked my students to give me ideas for a topic, since I haven't written anything in ages.  Here are their ideas:
1.   Planking.
2.  Why is that student so french?
3.  Why is that other kid so LOUD?
4.  ......and the students are done helping.

Please help me!  Give me a topic!!

Boy Terror isn't a christian. Not that shocking.

There was a time, long ago, when I was very religious.  I grew up in a strict conservative church, and it shaped every aspect of my life.  I assumed I would raise my children the same way.  In fact, I once got into a very heated argument with my boyfriend of the time because he said HIS children would attend public school (gasp!  Public school!  With heathens!!) and I was 100% sure MY children would never set foot into such a den of evil.
Things change, obviously.  I've touched on the basics of religion with the Terrors, but we are very clearly an atheist house.  Girl Terror patted my arm and said "Such a nice story" when I told her about angels.  I wasn't sure what Boy Terror thought until this week.  Hubby was taking him to piano lessons...

Hubby was driving by the church his mom used attend.

Hubby:  Grandma used to take me to that church.
Boy Terror:  What did you do there?
H:  We sang, people prayed, and read the Bible.
Boy:  That must have been pretty boring, since Jesus and God aren't real.

I admit, I am a bit surprised the lightening hasn't found me yet.  If my father were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave.  I'm probably going to hell.

Ups and downs.

Back in the fall, I heard that my anti-depressant was being linked to heart problems.  Fatal type problems.  I'm a fan of being alive, so after talking to my doctor I decided to switch brands.  It has been a roller coaster of a time since then.  The first one we tried did not work.  Did not, did not, did not.  In fact, it made me much worse.  Quitting it was also one of the hardest things I've gone through.  The second brand worked (yay!) but gave me hives.  Hmmmm.   I like being cheery, but I don't like itching.  On to brand three.  So far, this one seems to be okay.  It's still a pretty low dose, so I feel like I'm not taking anything, but I'm not itching, and that's a good thing.
If you ever want to make a person crazy, play around with their meds for 8 months.  Or better yet, mess around with their SPOUSE'S meds....I'm pretty sure hubby is getting ready to run away from home.
All this to say I haven't dropped off the planet, I will blog again, and if you know me in real life I'm very sorry for the moodiness you've been subjected to.  Things will get better, I promise.

Why?

At 4:00 am Hubby got up to pee.  Not a problem, except the animals assumed it was MORNING!  TIME TO RISE AND SHINE!!  and proceeded to make sure I was awake.  I finally gave in just before 5 and rolled out of bed. 
I love my pets, honestly.  So I hugged them, and kissed them, gave them breakfast, sent the bouncy dog out to pee, and started the coffee.
Around 5:30 I realized I hadn't seen the dog in awhile.  Scipio the cat was curled up on a heating vent, but Lucy the dog was nowhere to be seen.
I went downstairs looking for her, and found that evil creature all curled up UNDER A BLANKET on the couch.  Sound asleep.  Having succeeded in getting me out of bed, she felt her job was done and she was resting up for the busy day of sleeping ahead. 

Moving on.

I wanted to be all profound and stuff, but my brain is not co-operating.  Good news!  Fawn, over at Fawnahareo's Place, gave me a great idea.  By that I mean I'm totally copying her "Year in Review" post.  Thanks, Fawn!!

The first sentence of the first post from each month:

January:  Hmmmm....I was actually gone from blogging until May.  So let's start there!
May:  Hmmm....lately I've found myself composing blog entries in my head.  Perhaps it's time to come back.
June:  I went to a retirement party for a fellow teacher last night, and it was great.
July:  It is summer vacation, and I would like to be sleeping.
August:  We went camping last week, and it was a blast.
September:  Girl Terror and I were looking for something to watch on TV the other evening.
October:  Communicating with a seven year old boy.
November:  You know how just don't do something, thinking you will do it later?
December:  Apparently there is a very good reason why I should NOT be allowed to interact with the general public.

You know, Fawn's list was far more interesting.  I obviously need to work on my opening lines, and maybe it's time to find INTERESTING things to write about!

The Boy Terror makes me nervous.

It's no secret that Boy Terror is a bit.....odd.  Different.  Unique!  That's a better word.  He's unique.  This is the list I found yesterday on my grocery list pad (spelling is NOT his specialty):

full grocery bags   8
swich'es                29
pet's                     82
dog toy's              9
stocking's             15
door's                  16
dish'es                  231
                            462

After I stopped twitching (I'm an English teacher by training.  The misuse of the apostrophe killed several of my brain cells) I asked a few clarifying questions.
Apparently, we do have 29 light switches in the house.  The 82 pets boggled me, until he reminded me about the Tryops.  I guess there are 80???  I asked him if he really did count all the dishes, but he just estimated.  And then, assuming there were plenty of other things in the house, he doubled his biggest number and declared "There are 462 things in this house!"

Is it time to call a professional yet????