The Election Is Over

The one thing that made this miserable process worthwhile this year was that I learned a lot more about our system of government and how brilliant our forefathers were. For many years I've thought we should get rid of the electoral college because we have mass communication now which was one of the major factors in the need for creating it to begin with. But it was brought to my attention that we still need the electoral collage because if we just used the popular vote, the people in California, Texas, New York and Florida, who comprise the bulk of the US, would speak for all of us and wouldn't truly represent the entire republic.

The girls had a very narrow lens through which they viewed the election until I explained to them that it was very complicated and there was more to voting than just the candidate. Baby R said that in the end, she was kind of glad Hillary Clinton lost because she wants to be the first woman president. You go, baby girl.

On a personal level, the latest in our family history has been that Mom spent the weekend in the hospital. She had elevated liver enzymes and when the checked her in the E.R., she had gall stones, and by the time they moved her to the ICU, she was septic. They flooded her system with heavy doses of antibiotics, and she's made a dramatic recovery. She was speaking actual words today, some of which she strung into a complete, logical sentence, though it was out of context. But so much better than she's been in months.

Things were quite hectic this weekend since in addition to spending time at the hospital with Mom, we celebrated Baby R's 7th birthday. We saw the movie Trolls which was ok. Great music, so-so story. R is at such a fun age. She's lost so many teeth she looks like a jack-o-lantern. She often refuses to wear a coat because she has invisible fur, so says she doesn't need one. The other day when I picked her and S up from school, she put her arms in front of her like a zombie and repeatedly walked into a pole like a wind-up toy. She did an "About Me" project and one of the things she wants to be when she grows up is a boss. She wants to own a company that invents the fountain of youth, basically, and it will be several stories tall, and I will get to live on the top floor with her. Sadly, she takes after her clumsy mother and was the first of the kiddos to break a bone. She broke the tip of her ring finger doing a handstand in the living room.

And then there's Cinco. I asked him what cereal he wanted for breakfast the other day, and he said he wanted circles. I thought he meant Cheerios, but he meant Oatmeal Squares. Square, circles, a shape of some kind. Another misnomer he's been using lately is calling the Amazon tablet the Panzon. At dinner one night, he wanted macaroni. I told him he had to clean his plate first since he still had a lot of food. He put it all on the table and said, "I'm done, mama!" He's become intrigued by the mole on my inner elbow. He told me he wants one. He's going to buy it, and he wants the one he buys to be blue. He's going to buy it at the super store. But when we went to Super Target the other day he didn't want to be there - he wanted to go to the Batman Target. He also has started locking the back door of the car when DH gets home with him. DH told him to unlock it NOW the other day. He did and then DH told him it wasn't funny. To which Cinco replied in his 3YO voice with pinched thumb and finger, "It's a wittle funny." Such a stinker! But also such a sweetheart. He listed off all our family and friends the other night at bedtime and then said, "I wuv all my people." He turned 3 in September - where has the time gone!?! We have no more babies in our house. So having a new nephew who was born in July has been a fun blessing. (Cinco's bday was the day after we came back from Disneyland - need to do a whole post about that.)

S also had a birthday since my last post - yikes I'm slacking. She's 9. Nine, people. Half of her life in our house is over. (Insert deer in headlights emoji here.) She's amazing and frustrating, and I love her to pieces. She's taking piano lessons again this year, and has begun doing gymnastics which she really enjoys. For her birthday party we did an art theme and painted mini canvasses, decorated cupcakes and painted rocks for Lenexa Rocks. She wanted to have lunch with my mom since she couldn't come to our house for dinner with the rest of the family. We went to the facility and ate pasta. Mom has to have help eating now and didn't speak much, and I don't know whether or not she recognized us, but she seemed happy seeing S there. Thankful for our daughter's beautiful heart.

A few other random notes to summarize life since my last post:
• My SIL moved back to KC from Cali - yay! Love having her and my niece and nephew close by.
• Summer Olympics. Yessss!
• S started 4th grade, and Baby R started 1st grade.
• We celebrated my FIL's 70th bday, though I missed it because I was sick for about 6 weeks.
• Pokemon Go was all the rage.
• The Dakota Access Pipeline protests
• Earthquakes in Oklahoma
• My company bought our local competitor, so we are now in 3 buildings here. We also bought a company in Maryland.
• Crazy clowns terrorized the country this fall.
• DH ran a full marathon. He finished tied for last with 2 other people. But he did it. So proud of him for not giving up!
• I rented Inglorious Bastards. Which is not the same as Inglourious Basterds.
• The girls learned how to play Monopoly. As banker, S kept saying, "And don't forget to pay the lady!" Perhaps we watch too much Storage Wars.
• Hurricane Matthew
• S got to go to iFly.
• The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. For real!
• October and November (so far) have been unseasonably warm. Which has been great except for the horrific oak mites! Which prompted me to write this parody of 'I Love Paris in the Springtime," a la Meg Ryan in French Kiss:
I hate pollen in the springtime.
I hate leaf mold in fall.
I hate mosquitoes in the summertime.
But I hate oak mites most of all.
• For Halloween, I was Joyce from Stranger Things. With the rest of the cast done by coworkers, we won for best group contest at the office. On the homefront, S was Batgirl, R was Wonder Woman and Cinco was Batman. But he was too hot to wear any of the outfit except the mask, part of the time. DH was our neighbor, ha ha.