American Idol and "Foot in Mouth" Disease...all in one really LONG post!

Okay, so the guys were pretty good except for poor Sanjaya who just didn't have the pipes last night. It seemed like everyone was going BIG and he was going soft...really, really soft. The ladies tonight were really odd to me? Was it the band? So many of the ladies seemed to be off the beat...I mean REALLY off the beat. My first thought was that the monitor might be messing them up somehow, but then Miss Melinda Doolittle, and Lakisha Jones didn't seem to have any trouble at all. B suggested maybe it was the band, and not the singers who were off...possibly.

Anyway, my favorites so far are...Chris Sligh (so talented, and SO funny!), Blake Lewis (amazing talent), Brandon Rogers (he's the male counterpart to Melinda Doolittle--wouldn't it be fun to see them sing together???), Melinda Doolittle (obviously!), Lakisha Jones (my kids just call her "the mom"), Sabrina Sloan, (drop dead gorgeous, and such a smooth voice!), and Sundance Head (I know he's had some rough spots, but I'm still liking him from his very first tryout. He was just so funny, and he has a really good voice when he's singing the right song. I keep rooting for him to do really well each time he sings, to redeem himself after Hollywood Week.)

Okay, so that's my ever so humble opinion on the American Idol wannabees so far this season.

Now as for our day around here...Benji had a VERY interesting day...

Benji had the poor judgement last night to open his big mouth and insert not one, but two feet firmly inside. I was talking to another of the mom's at soccer practice, whom I just met last week, and she was discovering that not only do we have four kids, but that I homeschool three of them. She was commenting on how it must be a lot of work with the baby and all, and she said, "Wow, you must REALLY be "Wonder Woman" if you do all that." And before I could comment on how much my children help me out with the baby and housework and all, Benji pipes up and snorts...he actually snorted in disgust...and said, "She thinks YOU do everything, when WE really do everything. You just sit on the couch all day while we do all the work." No, I'm not kidding...he really said that! He really can be THAT stupid some times.

Now, before you jump to conclusions on either side of this issue, let me explain something...I DO spend a lot of time on the couch. Between my endometriosis, kidney disease, and osteopenia, (Yes, I know...my sister wants to sell my body to medical science!) I have quite a bit of back pain, and rather than pop Vicodin all day, I prefer to sit with my back on the warm heating pad. Therefore; I read my email, pay my bills online, manage my cake and cookie website, do school with the kids, eat my lunch, balance my checkbook, have my quiet time, do my Bloggity Book Club reading, write this blog, read all my favorite blogs, and watch American Idol and 24...on the heating pad...ON THE COUCH. I don't really lie there in a vegetative state ordering my slaves around! In between these activities, I get up and do the housework, bake the cakes and cookies, feed the family, do the laundry, etc. And quite often I am up until midnight doing the cakes and cookies because I don't like to take my time away from the kids to do them if I can help it.

So, needless to say, to hear those words out of my beloved firstborn son...cut deeply. Both because he doesn't appreciate all I do, and because I obviously haven't demonstrated to him how much I do for them because they are my first responsibility. So, here's what I did about it...I turned over the job to Benji for the day! He got to change diapers, unload the clean dishes from the dishwasher and then load the breakfast dishes in, sort the laundry and start a load in the washer, fix breakfast for the other 3 kids, make sure everyone had done their morning responsibilities, help the girl with her schoolwork, and get the other boy started on his, while making sure that the baby was staying out of the potty, and down from the shelves, tables, etc. Meanwhile, I watched tv, went outside and jumped on the trampoline, (Benji's favorite thing to do when he gets a break during school time.) and just watched the magic happen. Ya'll, he lasted an hour and a half before he broke down and cried. Real, sobbing tears..."I hate this job...I don't understand what Maddie is supposed to do on her lesson, Jon won't read what I'm telling him to, and Davey won't listen at all!" Point Made???

I then asked him if he would like to switch back...he said, "Sniff...yes...sniff, sniff". Hopefully, he understands now that I do a lot more than he realizes and that when I ask them to help out, it's not because I'm lazy...(at least, not ALWAYS because I'm lazy, LOL) but because I NEED some help to get everything done.

I have started a blog for Benji, because he has some stuff he wants to write, and he wants to have a place to show the pictures of motorcycles he has designed, AND it's a great way to make writing assignments a little bit more fun for him. Over the next few days, I'm going to have him write his side of this whole experience and post it. When he's got it up, I'll link to it, so ya'll can read..."the rest of the story".