...so that leaves me with an open spot and nothing to talk about, so I'll just ramble a little and see what happens...

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B has me worried. She is just starting to work on double digit addition and subtraction, and after doing just one of her math problems she decided that it's too hard. She's been procrastinating, walking away from her table, and generally complaining about the work. If I try and redirect her, she gets mad. If I try and show her a quick trick on how to do it easily, she'll engage for one more problem and then we're back at square one. If I firmly tell her to do her homework and stop whining, she throws a royal tantrum.

Have I mentioned that we think she was royalty in a past life? No? Well, we think that she was royalty in a past life. There, I've said it, and I'll talk about this more further down. Unless I forget.

Usually after the meltdown, and some coddling about how easy her homework actually is, about how she could have been finished by now with it all if she hadn't wasted time crying, about how smart she is.... then she starts working on the homework. Last night after two hours of fighting with her, she calmed down and finished it all in 15 minutes.

She lost two hours of playtime, and we didn't go out to dinner as a result. We were going to go out as soon as she finished her homework, but that wasn't happening. A & B had cold cereal for dinner, and DH and I split some leftover pasta. That's a far cry from the Indian food that we were gonna have instead.

DH has had the same issues with B - only with him she tells him that they thinks she's dumb. I'm wondering where she's getting this because it's not coming from us or A - and her classmates at school had better hope that it's not coming from *them* else there's gonna be one big mad mom coming down on them. I'm pretty sure that it's not coming from school though either because B is sensitive and tells me when people say "mean stuff" at school.

My poor smart little blue-eyed Boo. I wish I could convince her that her homework isn't the enemy, but instead that she's being her own enemy.

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My dad has an interesting view of things every once in a while, and I thought I'd share one of them with y'all.

He believes that there are old souls and new souls. You can tell the difference sometimes too. An old soul is more cautious and watches how things are done (and generally gets them right the first time they try to do it). They're introspective and usually reserved. Comes from having knowledge of a previous go-round on an earthly plane, I would suppose. Or they're tired because of how many times they've already been around.

New souls are more rambunctious. They dive right into things, and are more prone to be in the center of the circle than on the perimeter, watching quietly. They're not afraid of anything, because they haven't learned to be cautious. Free-spirited? Oh my yes.

So, Dad has categorized A & B. A is a new soul. This is probably her first time around and she's excited and full of energy. She's not afraid of anything, and is always willing to try new things and put herself out there as a leader. B is an old soul. She's quiet and watches things - sometimes she's shy. She tends to do tasks correctly the first time that she tries it after watching it several times. She's wise beyond her years, and she senses when people are sad or happy, and picks up on that emotion herself.

Now, psychologists would say that my Dad (and I) have just explained the differences between an introvert and an extrovert, but I think that there's just a little something more to that. I don't know a lot of introverts who can be shy one minute and then laughing and hugging her friends just 15 minutes later. Or extroverts who aren't afraid of ANYTHING. Ah well, my daughters are what they are, and I love them regardless for it.

But I'm sure that there's something to what my Dad has said, since B does seem to expect us to wait on her hand and foot and has thrown tantrums to suit the most spoiled of princesses. Like I said before, DH and I are pretty sure that she was royalty for more than one previous go-round.

That or she was a cat.

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Well, there's just two weeks to go in Lent, and I'm still keeping all of my promises. I've not eaten chocolate (knowingly), candy or soda. There's been a few instances where I think I've really needed some, but was able to stave it off.

After my grandmother died, I was sitting at my desk feeling more than a little bit lost, and I really wanted some chocolate. My co-workers know what I've been up to, so they don't accidentally leave a chocolate doughnut on my desk - which would really frustrate me. Anyway, one of them passes by and hears my quiet (or so I thought) lament about why did I choose now to give up chocolate. He looks at me and says, "God knows all, and forgives all. Have a small piece of chocolate - he'll understand. Just say about 20 novenas as your penance." It brought a laugh, which is what I think it was designed to do.

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Why is it that people have a great necessity to laugh and speak loudly on the phone for personal calls they make and receive at work, yet speak ultra-quietly for the business related calls? It's not like we're not all under the same non-disclosure agreements, but I really don't need to know how your parents business is being audited and how your best buddy is soooo clueless.

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Here's something to think about, for all you shellfish lovers: Lobsters were once considered inedible and used primarily as fertilizer. Betcha you're going to think twice before you order a lobster next time you get the opportunity.

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Something else to think about... The famous Nike Swoosh symbol was created by a graphic design student in Portland, OR. She was paid $35 for her design. *looks down at her well worn $65 Nike Cross-Trainers* You'd think that she could have gotten more for it. Nike sure got a bargain...

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While it's usually true that only the paranoid survive (thank you Andy Grove for that famous quote), sometimes the paranoid need to.... *sigh* I won't go there. Sometimes it's founded; more often than not it's unfounded. I've been there too. Business is business, and those who truly want to succeed aren't going to cut off their noses to spite their faces. They want to make sure that they look good - if that means drawing a hard line sometimes so that they look capable for upper management, then so be it. And some folks live in their own little worlds where they have power, can get away with anything, and that it's just a matter of time before they become part of upper management.

It's nice to have a dream, isn't it? Even if it will never be realized.

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Well... I think I've said enough today. Go have a wonderful weekend, and I'll try to do the same.