Mr. Mayor and the moon

Yup, those are my kids with the Mayor of Joe-ville. Mr. Mayor came out to the 15th annual tree planting and organ donor dedication, as did Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. Quite a day! It started out questionable (more like downhill). The kids were ornery by breakfast, which looking back at now I can’t even remember what the deal was. I think it was something about where we were all to sit at the table. This is a big deal to the almost three and five year-old in the house. I was not in the mood. It progressed from the children to my husband. They all managed to bug me to the point I stated, “It must be Mother’s Day. Is that today? The way everyone is acting, it really must be my day!” I get pretty uptight about the way “Mom” gets treated. So, it was one of those days “Mom” was feeling no R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The clock was ticking closer to the tree planting and I still hadn’t showered nor had the kids eaten lunch. We ended up making it to the ceremony, late as usual. I am late for everything in case you did not already know this. I assume I can get anywhere I need to be in 15 minutes. Even if I need to be to the Indiana border, 15 minutes is all I need to make that hour trip. As soon as we walked in the door I could see my folks and Dax’s godmother and her kids. The fact that they were there meant so much! But then I felt so bad that we were late. But, neither of them probably thought anything of it, as they know me better than anyone. The ceremony was lovely and it was just really cool (for lack of a better word) that Jesse White was there. His support of organ and tissue donation and awareness in Illinois is just awesome. The whole ceremony just took on a different kind of feel from the mayor to the color guard to every person that spoke. Though, I couldn’t help but think of what an episode of American Idol must be like as the one girl kind of crackled her high note as she sang the last song of the ceremony. I began to feel like Simon or Paula, this coming from someone who has never even watched a single episode. I don’t even watch Survivor. The Bachelor is the only reality TV I watch, I admit it. Every season I swear I am not watching it ever! again! and I still get hooked. It’s one part of how I started an interest in this blog thing. I read a recap of The Bachelor from RealitySteve.com and it was hilarious. I could read that and not even have to watch the show. But what fun would that be. Bless this guy’s heart, he watches all this reality “stuff” and then writes a column about it all. Down to his own commercial recaps. Good stuff. I started watching SuperNanny and can’t even bear that most times. Though it affirms that I do know what I am doing as a parent, as we already do most of what she is teaching the parents to do on the show, anyhow. It also makes my kids little angels in comparison to some of what JoJo has to deal with. My two are just sweet kids, really. Mark really wanted Remy to say “Hi” to the Mayor to see if he remembered her. She was included in his speech at the tree planting last year. When the Mayor came around by the kids his face lit up and he acted like he actually remembered her. Not by name of course, but just like he knew her. But he was once known as officer friendly before he became Mayor and was even voted the "hottest" mayor in a radio station contest last year. He won that title because of days like today. He makes everyone feel good and listens and participates in his community. I love this town! Okay, so where was I? We shoveled some dirt on the tree and the kids played hide-and-seek in the grove of trees from previous years’ planting ceremonies. It was cold and windy but the sun was shining. At least it wasn’t snowing. We had a few flurries in these parts a few days ago. Someone was really looking out for us all. I have to keep things like that in perspective. It ended up being a pretty nice day. Then there was shopping at the grocery store after dinner (and I hate going without a list). Remy wanted to sit in the cart which she is much too big for so she’s pitching a fit and then the kid at the register is like “credit or debit” and I am oblivious to the whole thing as Dax nearly launches himself out of the cart head first to the floor I look at Mark and he’s all “You can pay it.” Thanks for that. And, I forgot to use my $5 off coupon! I do prefer to shop alone and have some clue as to what I am doing. But I will blame everything on the full moon. That, or the black cat that crossed the road right in front of me as I was heading home the other day. I did retrace my route later that day, as I had to pick up Remy from school. Does that negate the bad luck? Not only am I notoriously late, I am really superstitious. You should see me when my kids get around ladders or use their umbrellas.