Memorial Day Memories

 

Usually we spend Memorial Day with my Dad’s side of the family, but my Grandpa is just getting over pnemonia, so we decided it wouldn’t be good to bring our germs into the house. So, anyway, we went to my Nannie and Pop-Pop’s house today instead. We always have fun playing bean bags and horse shoes there, and today was no exception. Christy got LOTS of attention today. She was one spoiled dog. Of course, all my family knows about her condition, so they were all paying extra attention to her. Christy is doing okay right now. She is pretty much acting like her normal self except when it comes to eating. For some reason she only eats her dog treats and table food. She REFUSES to eat her food out of her own bowl. We are wondering if she associates her sickness with her food bowl…we are rather baffled by the whole thing. As you will notice, Christy is in a lot of the pictures today!!! Pop-Pop actually made her a hamburger and she got a bun and everything 🙂 It is funny how things change when you know she won’t be with us much longer.  In the past, Christy would never have gotten her own hamburger  

 

Well, I had fun playing bean bags and horse shoes….of course, my handsome little bro beat me at horse shoes  I was doing okay for awhile, but he still got me in the end. Later on, we had a "battle" during our final bean bag game….make sure you check out the pictures!! Notice how abusive he is!!! How rude !!

 

Do I really deserve a diploma?

 

Now there is the question of the day!!!

 

I get home from work this afternoon to find out that my diploma has arrived in the mail. Yippee!! I am an official graduate….or am I? After what I did today to one of the children in my care, I am not sure if I deserve my diploma.

 

Yep, the truth about me was revealed today for the whole world to see…..I have begun to beat up kids….my "sweet, kind, considerate" nature when it comes to children has been a cover-up all these years.

 

You want to know how the REAL Becky treats children???

 

Here’s the scoop:

 

If children don’t behave, I give them a bloody nose and lip.

 

Terrible, I know, but once you get started, it is hard to kick the habit.  I will be beginning therapy next week for anger management. They will teach me how to properly release my anger…..children should not have to be the victims to this type of treatment.

 

WHAT????!!! Don’t believe me? Okay, this is what REALLY happened… 

 

The children were playing in the indoor play room before nap time today. They were running up and down, and all around. I wanted to provide a "smooth" transition from running around to laying down on cots for nap time. Well, I sit down with a child on my lap in the middle of the room. A lot of the children are "helping" to clean up the room. I was calling the children to come sit down because we were going to sing some songs. One little boy right beside me, started to run in the opposite direction. I put my arm out to stop him from running off, and what happens??? He trips over my arm, and lands SPLAT, face down on the floor. I quickly get up to pick him up because he is screaming his head off. What do I discover? A mouth full of blood, and some blood is coming out of his nose as well. Of course, I "calmly" take him to the bathroom, which was, thankfully, two steps away, and I try to stop the bleeding with paper towels. One of the teachers runs to get ice and the assistant director. At this point, I am so much in shock, I felt like I was numb to what was happening. The assistant director came in and took him to the office. I was the head teacher in the classroom at this point, so I had to get my thoughts together and get the other 12 children back to the classroom in a somewhat "organized" fashion. It was almost 1 p.m. by this point, and none of the children’s diapers had been changed yet….nap time is supposed to start at 1 p.m. As I am changing diapers, all these thoughts are swirling through my head. "Is he alright? What if it is something serious? I am in such BIG trouble!!" The assistant director eventually brought him back in, and said that his nose had stopped bleeding, and he had just bit his lip really bad. A teacher just sat with him, giving him juice, and letting him suck on a teething ring to prevent his lip from getting too swollen. I am trying to concentrate on doing diapers, all the while looking at this poor child. The teacher asked me if I was all right. She was like, "Don’t feel bad. It was just an accident!!" I KNOW it was an accident, but at this point, I am near tears  feeling like I’m the worst person on earth. After awhile, I sat him on my lap and just cuddled him. He is a tough little boy, thankfully, and I am sure his parents will understand. He and his brother (twins) are constantly getting "boos-boos", yet the fact that a TEACHER caused the "boo-boo" this time, is a bit unnerving for me. Almost every day there is a child getting hurt. In fact, one of the girls had 2 major injuries within about 2 months of each other. She fell off the slide, which resulted in a broken wrist. She fell into the corner of a wall, resulting in a large gash in the forehead and about 4 stitches. Hey, I guess these kids are just bound to get hurt!!  The fact that this child was in sock feet on a slippery floor when this incident happened today didn’t help either. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I still feel guilty. For the next couple of weeks when I look at this child’s cut and bruised lip, I will wonder to myself, "How could I have handled this situation better?" Oh, yes, such is life…can’t wait for my own kids…I will be the world’s calmest mother…..hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa!!!

 

 

 

 

Devastating news

 

What started off to be what we thought was an allergic reaction and some sort of virus that was causing Christy to be lethargic and not eating, has turned into something much worse. Yesterday my parents took her to a specialist vet in Quakertown for a second opinion, but it is official. My poor puppy has a massive tumor around her spleen and she is bleeding internally. There is basically nothing we can do for her. The vet says that she can just die at any minute…just keel over and die. Do you have any idea how hard this is on me and my family right now? I have basically been crying almost nonstop since my parents came back with the news last night. Here it is Saturday morning when I should be sleeping in, but I am sitting down at the computer, bawling my eyes out.   I could go upstairs right now and find my dog dead. That is a horrifying thought to me. I can’t even begin to explain how much my dog means to me. I know some people can not even begin to understand. They would probably think right now, "It’s just a dog…get over it." But she is more than "just a dog". She is a member of our family, and has been for almost 9 years. As the saying goes, "A dog is man’s best friend." Well, Christy has definitely been my best friend. She has always been there to greet me with a wiggle and a wag when I get home. She has learned what a softy I am….whenever I have food in her presence, she is right there, nudging me with her cold nose, giving me those sad brown eyes. She has been my comforter over the years whenever I was having a rough time. She would always be there "supporting" me without asking questions or offering opinions (of course, she’s a dog!), but just being there with me helped. I remember, when we first got her, how I was so upset. I am a girl who HATES change, and when we got Christy, our whole world seemed to change. Honestly, at first, I wasn’t sure I wanted her. She "messed up" everything it seemed. I remember thinking we could never go anywhere on a vacation or do anything fun again because of her. Little did I realize how wrong I was! I remember going on vacation, and leaving her with someone else, and feeling like part of our family was missing. In fact, two years in a row, I stayed home with Christy while the rest of the family went on vacation. It was just me and my dog for a week! 

 

So now, I don’t know how much longer she will be here with us. The vet really couldn’t give us any time frame. Like I said, she could just keel over and die any minute. I don’t want to be there to witness that…yet, I don’t want to come home one day and find her dead. I just wish this was a horrible nightmare, and I could just wake up and everything would be alright again. The tough part right now is that Christy is basically back to her normal self – begging, barking and stealing my socks. That is what makes it so hard…she seems healthy. Remembering that this cancer is spreading throughout her body is really hard when she is acting this way. My dad said that even the vet had tears in her eyes yesterday because Christy was being so friendly with everyone and greeting them. Christy has affected so many people with her friendliness. When we first got her, I wasn’t sure how much my extended family would care for her. Well, let’s just say, they LOVE her (at least most do). Both my grandpa and my pop-pop have a framed picture of Christy in their house. Mom made it to look like Christy is saying "I love you, Grandpa/Pop-Pop". When my grandma calls she always asks about Christy. Sometimes we teasingly say, "They care more about Christy than their actual grandchildren!" My two aunts always buy Christy presents at Christmas. When I say she is a member of the family, she is! We always include her name when we are sending a card to someone (at least someone who knows Christy!) This won’t just affect us…my neighbors even came by last night to say how sorry they were, and if there was anything they could do to help. They have put up with a lot over the years….Christy hasn’t exactly been the quietest dog!!….but they still care about her. As I am going through this rough time, I can’t help but wonder. If this is how I am feeling when a DOG dies, how will I feel when an actual HUMAN family member or friend dies? Both sets of grandparents are getting older. In fact, my one grandpa is battling pnemonia right now. Death is something we just don’t like to think about, but as I have seen, and will see, it is very real. So, anyway, if you notice that I am looking particularly sad for a time, you’ll know why. I am about to lose a faithful and loyal friend. We have talked about getting another dog, but right now, I can’t even bear the thought. Christy simply can’t be replaced. She is one of a kind!  

      

Happy Mother’s Day!!

 

We started off the day with our tradition of giving Mom breakfast in bed.  Andy actually was the one who made breakfast for Mom (his speciality eggs ). After church, Pop-Pop, Nannie and Aunt Cheryl came over and we all had lunch together. I made chicken n’ corn casserole, mashed potatoes, salad and biscuits. The casserole was a new recipe, so I was a little nervous, but it turned out REALLY good and everyone loved it! We also celebrate Aunt Cheryl’s birthday which was last week. Mom made a baseball cake (cause Aunt Cheryl loves the Phillies ), and the center was filled with icecream. Well, it had been in the freezer, and it didn’t have a lot of time to thaw out, so Aunt Cheryl had a bit of a struggle trying to cut it! She was like, "Where’s the hammer?!!" It was still really yummy though 🙂 After letting our stomachs settle a bit after lunch, I "dragged" all the ladies outside for some pictures. I wanted the three generations of mommies and daughters to get pictures together. Of course, I had to coax and beg Andy into the one picture so Mom and her kids would look "complete"!! It was such a beautiful day for pictures…however, a bit windy!!  

My poor puppy

 

These past couple of days we have noticed a change in Christy. She has just been laying around the house, and she has not been her normal barking, begging self. Today we noticed that her eyes were all puffy so we are thinking it is allergies. I just offered her one of my cheese cubes (she is ALWAYS begging me for cheese cubes) and she wouldn’t even touch it. She hasn’t eaten anything all day today.  You don’t realize how much you love your puppy until she isn’t herself! She still wags her tail though, so that is a good sign! Mom will be hopefully calling the vet tomorrow to get an appointment. It is strange how "annoyed" you can be one minute and jokingly saying "I’m going to kill that dog!!" and the next minute giving her a bunch of hugs and kisses, and in your best "doggy" voice telling her how much you love her and want her to get better.

 

Yep, life just ain’t the same when Christy is not herself!

 

Get better soon, baby!

 

 

 

 

For getting an A on my workshop presentation….

 

My parents took us out to dinner last night at Carrabba’s.

 

I had eaten there once before, and really liked the Chicken Bryan platter but we had never gone as a family. The waitress sits us right next to the kitchen. Of course, we all wave to Carlos, who is back there keeping busy . As we are sitting there looking at our menus, the waitress comes by and puts a platter in the middle of the table. She told us it was a treat from Carlos. As I sat there looking at this platter, I had no clue what it was. My parents had a funny expression on their face, so I was a little worried. I didn’t want to offend Carlos by not eating what he had treated us with! Here my parents had been at Carrabba’s before with the Zarrillos and they had ordered this same platter called "calamari." They couldn’t remember exactly which sea creature it was from . Andy, of course, gobbles one right down and says that it is really good. At first, there was NO WAY I was going to taste any of it…I am really "cautious" when it comes to new and strange foods . I tried shrimp once, and it felt like I was chewing rubber balls. Well, after some "coaxing" from my mom and brother, I decided to taste it. Yep, rubber balls once again…at least in my estimation!! It was then that my mom found it necessary to inform me that she was pretty sure it was squid!!!  Let’s just say I quickly grabbed my glass of water to wash it down….I had just eaten one of those gross creatures of the sea that squirt ink?????!!!  

 

When we got home we looked it up on the Internet to confirm, yes, it had been squid. Well, that was my first (and hopefully last) experience tasting squid…of course, you never know what I may be forced to eat one day!!! Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about offending Carlos because Andy pretty much finished up the plate (I was so proud of him) Let’s just say the Chicken Bryan platter was definitely more enjoyable!!! Yep, I am definitely a meat and potatoes kind of girl….put something new in front of me with a fancy name or a weird texture, and there will be some struggles!!!

 

To think that I ate one of these "wondrous" creatures of the sea!!!

 

They try and make it look so good by frying it and putting it on a fancy platter!!!

 

 

A Bittersweet Moment

 

 

Well, today I had to go to LCCC to pick up my student teaching portfolio. I get to my professor’s office, and she is not there. My portfolio is right there in a box, so I decided to just take it. I put a goodbye/thank-you note on my professor’s desk and walk out the room. I slowly go down the hallway, hoping that my professor will appear so I can say good-bye to her at least. No one is around. I then proceed to the bookstore, and try to sell back my accounting book. When I get to the cashier, I can just tell by the look on her face, that I wasn’t going to be hearing good news.

 

"Sorry, we already met our number for this textbook, and there is a new addition coming out in the fall."

 

Well, thanks, Sarah Anger, for letting me know anyway I am glad your book was able to be bought back!!! I guess I was just a few books too late!!!  I really don’t think I am meant to get rid of this accounting book!!

 

Oh, yes, the memories….Sarah and I had the same accounting class last semester, and we went to the bookstore together to get our books. We both spent $112 for our accounting book….yikes!! Anyway, that night we both discovered the same book on half.com for MUCH cheaper. So we decided to order the books over the Internet instead. We then took our original accounting books back to the bookstore, and got refunded on our money. We then proceeded to wait for our new accounting book to come in the mail….we waited, and waited….Well, by the 2nd (or was it the 3rd??) week of class, we realized that not having a book was starting to REALLY be a problem. So, I decided that instead of waiting some more and falling extremely behind in the class, I should just go back to the bookstore and buy the $112 book. Sarah and I then used my book for a little bit to quickly catch up with the rest of the class. She ordered another book and got it in the mail later on…..

 

It was my first and only time trying to get a textbook outside the campus bookstore….it wasn’t worth all that aggravation in my opinion!!! So, anyway, I continue to have a $112 accounting book in my possession. I think it is rather attached to me, seeing how this is the 2nd time I tried selling it back! So, any of you just dying to get your hands on a huge accounting textbook? Maybe this is a "sign" that one day I will be involved in some accounting job, and I will need to fall back on this textbook for answers to my questions….hmmmmmm…hey, I really like accounting (when everything balances out correctly in the end!!) so maybe that is the answer!!!

 

Wow, that was a rabbit trail….anyway, as I was walking away still clinging "fondly" to my accounting book, I started to get a little misty-eyed. Here I was walking through LCCC campus for perhaps the LAST time. As I walked outside and had the "grand view" of all the buildings around campus, I couldn’t help but remember my first time at that campus. I was SO intimidated, because it just seemed soooo big. I was sure I was going to get lost! Well, here I am…3 years later…and I survived!! Although at times, I had some "interesting" experiences at this campus, it became a part of who I was in a way. Now, that part of my life is over (maybe  ….I could still go on, I know), and I am entering a new phase of my life. What will life be like without studying for tests and writing papers?  Now, all I have to look forward to is work, work, and more work….fun!  Hey, as long as it is something I enjoy doing, maybe it won’t be so bad

 

So, anyway, it was a bittersweet moment as I went up the hill the last time to the parking lot away from LCCC campus. I was soooo looking forward to being done college, but now, that I am actually done, it is a little sad  Okay, now, I am over it!!!!!! Ready to get that degree in the mail!!!!

 

Just had to share my thoughts of the day!!!

Gotta Love Toddlers!!

 

After taking off a week to get ready for my workshop, I returned to my little tots today. I wasn’t sure how they would receive me after "deserting" them for a week. Well, the second I entered the room, one of the girls came running to me with arms outstretched, wanting to be held. That made me feel loved and appreciated.  When one of the moms dropped off her little girl, Caitlynn (actually the girl I am holding in my profile picture), she was like, "Oh, Miss Becky, Caitlynn has missed you so much!" Caitlynn reached for me and she got this huge smile on her face. Her mom then said, "That’s the smile I missed seeing last week when I dropped off and you weren’t here." Awwww…Needless to say, a lot of my babies were really attached to me today. I guess they were afraid I’d leave them again. I had to constantly repeat throughout the course of the morning, "Miss Becky is right here. I am not going anywhere!" I hate causing those lower lips to tremble.

 

I think one of the main things I missed this past week was hearing my name from the mouth of a one year old. Oh, yes, practically all of them say my name now, but there are some unique pronunciations, let me tell you! Let me try to remember some of them….

 

I have been called Betty, Backy, Bocky, and my favorite, Cocky.  It is rather amusing because I work with a girl whose name is Samantha. She goes by Miss Sam. Well, some of the children call her "Ham". So, how would you like to place your child in a toddler room run by "Ham" and "Cocky"?

 

Yep, gotta love toddlers!!!