An interview with my hooligans

Marcus is nine

Weston is seven

Esther will be five next month

I interviewed my kids one at a time (the other two were out of ear shot) and these are their perceptive and entertaining answers (all in their words).

What is something mom always says to you?
Marcus: “I love you.”
Weston: “I love you.”
Esther: “I love you.”

What makes mom happy?
Marcus: Me.
Weston: When I do stuff for her.
Esther: When I do this. (she says I love you in sign language)

What makes mom sad?
Marcus: I don’t know
Weston: When somebody is being mean to her like in a time when someone gets in a fight. Or, you could erase all that and say, when one of her friends die.
Esther: I don’t know

How does your mom make you laugh?
Marcus: Her stories make me laugh.
Weston: By smiling
Esther: By saying what you just said, because that made me laugh. (apparently, this question is hilarious)

What was your mom like as a child?
Marcus: bad
Weston: I remember her doing something bad.
Esther: I don’t know.

How old is your mom?
Marcus: 31? 32? 31.
Weston: 31?
Esther: 14. (definative)

How tall is your mom?
Marcus: I don’t know
Weston: fourteen feet (he used his feet to measure me)
Esther: (shrugs her shoulders)

What is her favorite thing to do?
Marcus: Play on the computer
Weston: Doing computer
Esther: Play on the computer

What does your mom do when you're not around?
Marcus: How would I know? I am not around!
Weston: Lays down on the bed.
Esther: Do work.

If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Marcus: There is nothing you do that is so good you would be famous.
Weston: Doing the computer. Dadahdauhduh: the famous person who is good at computers! Yay, a person who knows how to do the computer! DunDunDuh!
Esther: I don’t know.

What is your mom really good at?
Marcus: writing.
Weston: Doing the computer (he breaks into hysterical laughter)
Esther: Playing that ball game

What is your mom not very good at?
Marcus: You are good at everything. But... not so good you can be famous.
Weston: Not loving people. She is so bad at that. She never not loves people.
Esther: Candy Bash. The hard Candy Bash. With the bean. When it says stuff.

What does your mom do for a job?"
Marcus: Watches me
Weston: Teach us
Esther: Working

What is your mom's favorite food?
Marcus: Pizza
Weston: Pizza
Esther: Salad

What makes you proud of your mom?
Marcus: I can’t think of anything.
Weston: That she is a good mommy!
Esther: When she gives me food that I like.

If your mom were a cartoon character who would she be:
Marcus: She would be a good character but no one has made her yet.
Weston: Princess Leah on Star Wars
Esther: princess Leah.

What do you and your mom like to do together?
Marcus: We just like to hang out.
Weston: Cuddle
Esther: Say “I love you” together

How are you and your mom the same?
Marcus: There are many similarities...well...in looks. And in behavior.
Weston: Our noses are the same. At least I think so
Esther: We are not.

How are you and your mom different?
Marcus: Well, you are a girl. I mean a woman. I am a boy.
Weston: She is bigger. I am littler.
Esther: Cause she does work and I don’t do work very much.

How do you know your mom loves you?
Marcus: Because she says, “I love you”. I don’t believe that she is lying.
Weston: Because she loves me! She does love me. I know she does. Or why would she do all those fun stuff for me if she didn’t love me?
Esther: Cause she always says I love you.

What does your mom like most about your dad?
Marcus: I don’t know.
Weston: He does work and she doesn’t have to do anything. All she has to do is lay down. Except when mom has to do a lot of work. But when she doesn’t have to do a lot of work then dad can do her work and she can CUDDLE with ME! I like that when my dad does work my mom can lay down and cuddle with me. What was the question?
Esther: His hair.

Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Marcus: To Tara’s house.
Weston: Tara’s.
Esther: To the store. Clothes store. To buy clothes for a present for somebody. Me! and sometimes herself, and Weston, and Marcus.

Things I learned about myself: I am on the computer FAR too much. And...I am rather good at loving.

Ten (again)

Ten things I will miss when I move to Ecuador: (in random order)

1. My dog. I will really miss my Heidi-girl. I would take her with us, but she has a bad knee and it would be rough on her to have to live in the mountains.

2. Fall leaves. Can I even survive without a Fall season?

3. A Bathtub. I take at least one bath every single day. Ecuador has showers. No tubs. I am going to DIE.

4. Camping every year with my favorite peeps. I bet I can fit one more trip in before I leave, but I know that soon- they will be camping without me.

5. Dr. Pepper.

6. Access to good books, written in English.

7. English.

8. Tara. Can't write more. My vision is blurry.

9. My house/home/place I live right now.

10. My king sized bed. Ecuadorians are small people and King sized mattresses have to be custom made. Which is for rich people. Which will not be what I am.


I because I left you all hanging for so long in great anticipation of my next random TEN- here is another:

Ten random things I will NOT miss:

1. Slush/Freezing rain

2. Starbucks

3. Cookie Cutter Subdivisions (and being greatly annoyed everytime I see fields being turned into yet ANOTHER one)

4. Feeling purposeless

5. Having to drive everywhere I want to go.

6. Bananas (cause there will be an abundance there)

7. Constant ringing of my telephone

8. Mega sized grocery stores

9. Dentists (I might regret this one)

10. People burning Fall leaves

And now, I tag ten of you to fill my my big head with lots of love. Tell me ten things you will miss about me when I leave you here to deal with freezing rain and urban sprawl without me.

A Solution

It's to late for me to use this solution, but perhaps other moms of boys will appreciate it. I am pretty sure the purpose was not meant to be practical, but come on, we all know how much easier it would be to clean plastic walls.

Contact Paper Bathroom Walls

Four down from Ten

Ten random adjectives that start with P:

1. Putrid

2. persimmony (I can make up a word. Afterall, I made up the game)

3. Pleasant

4. Precarious

4. Pretty

5. Precocious

6. Periwinkle

7. Plausible

8. Plodding

9. poor

10. Pooped-out

I randomly assign the following ten following letters to ten random friends.
Gwen- H
Renee- K
Tara- X
Carrie- L
Devon- B
Dawn- F
Random friend number - A
Stacey- C
Sarah (from the Sarah and Jack fame) -S
Sarah (the artsy fartsy colorful lady with the singing husband)- Q (and I think she can handle it)

10.3 (and not the one I promised)

Ten Random thoughts that are rolling around in my brain.

1. I am done.

2. Finished.

3. So very done.

4. I am NOT kidding

5. If I were a cake, and you stuck a fork in me, the cake would come out with the fork. Because it was a burned up piece of rock.

6. If you asked me to take a long walk off a short pier; I would. Then I would drown, because I am doner than doner than done.

7. I quit.

8. Some worlds will end. Most will continue to turn. the planet Beckasan has blown into tiny shards sending shrapnel into the entire known universe, making everyone else wish that they too, were DONE.

9. I think it is cool that I have have my own planet. I just wish it had a cooler name. Maybe Beckawsome? Or Rebappy? Or just BecDONE!

10. I don;t have any more random thoughts. My brain quit just a few milliseconds after I did.

And I can't tag anyone. I'm too done.

Ten point Two

Ten (random) things I am grateful for:

1. Colorful socks. Especially the 1.00 Target ones. Nothing beats cheap and colorful!

2. Coffee. Duh.

3. Peanut butter. (the kind that is not laden with poison)

4. Spring (because it's coming. I can smell it.)

5. My sister-in-law Carrie and brother Seth, who are braving the Foster care system to take care of children who need a home and a family. Right now they are my heroes.

6. A working toilet. Although, the more my boys pee on my walls, the more I think outhouses were a pretty good idea. (I am sorry for the complaint that worked its way in here)

7. WIBI radio, which I can get streaming online, and which allows me a chance to worship while I do my morning chores.

8. Raymond Paving Rabbids Wii game, which has kept my three children VERY entertained for the past three days. It has been quite a pleasure to not hear, "mommy....I'm bored".

9. My laptop, which allows to to browse anywhere in the house.

10. jalapenos- because the world would just be a duller place without them.

And I am still tagging the same people I tagged yesterday plus I am adding Tara and Murali. And Gretchen. And Splayneo (I think I spelled that wrong) (I am too darn lazy to find all the links for those.

Tomorrow will be ten blogs I LOVE to read, which will not be fun because
a. I will have to not be lazy. Blogs need links.
b. I read over 100 blogs. How will I narrow it down?

Ten (part one)

Ten Random Categories of Ten Random Things (in ten days)

II. Ten Complaints:
1. My house. My poor house. We have to practically give it away. All my lovely trees are apparently worth nil in a nasty economy.

2. I am fat. And I exercise and eat well. I am sick of working hard and seeing nothing. At the same time, I think I look good. So why do I care? I am complaining that I care.

3. My couch is full of dog hair.

4. I have sores all over my head from being mysteriously glutened. I think someone is trying to poison me.

5. I am really missing some of my old friends. Facebook made me uncharacteristically sentimental. I really want to see
Brittany, Michelle, and Stacey. I want to sit with them and laugh about melting sporks over candle flames, dodging scissors, and watching bad movies.

6. I have too much stuff I have to read. I love to read, but not the stuff I have to read. The stuff I have to read puts me to sleep. And I don;t have time to sleep because I have too much stuff to read.

7. I hate the carpet in my house.

8. I hate my skin. I used to have beautiful skin, which I assume I should be grateful for. But it's a tough pill to swallow when I look in the mirror every morning to red, rough, nasty skin.

9. I want a grilled cheese sandwich. With real bread.

10. I have boys who pee on the walls. There is no other complaint as big as THAT one.


And I tag ten friends to play along (Marmie, Carrie, Renee, Gwen, Dawn, and five other people who might also read my blog)

Tomorrow will be Ten wonderful things I am grateful for. Unless I randomly decide to have something different.