My baby is FIVE

Well, i can't believe it, but I have a five-year-old. Yep. Five.

We had a great time celebrating her birthday this weekend - we had a pool party at the Y. The kids swam for an hour and then stuffed themselves on cake and candy. I tried to make an octopus cake - we have a mold we used last year that worked great, but unfortunately, this time it got stuck in the pan, fell apart and then was frosted before it cooled, so it basically looked like a big pile of poo. So we got some cupcakes. Alas. It was going to be a good cake too...

I'm so proud of my little girl and who she is becoming. She is thoughtful, sweet, hilarious, sensitive and strong. I have been giving a lot of thought to that - she is really sensitive AND strong. She has the capacity to bend and change for others, she has a pulling desire to fit in and is easily hurt when she is rebuffed. She has however been able to stand strong, even to stand up to her sometimes-way-too-crotchety mama and still be open and friendly and wonderful.

We do fight sometimes and more often than in times past, I am short-tempered and preoccupied. I try not to be - I try to be fully here for her when I am here - dinner time, bedtime - but sometimes the other household things catch up with me and I find myself unable to give her a small smile of attention at her laundry basket antics when I'm frantically folding the tenth load of laundry on a Sunday night when I should really be studying for a Physiology exam that I am completely unprepared for. I answer her question with a sarcastic response and instead of being hurt and angry and going away, she is hurt and angry and says, "why do you have to talk so RUDE?"

I apologize.

We fight again getting ready for bed, but in the end, I calm down and she calms down and we have a nice time with books and stories and a good snuggle. I am proud of her. I know I can take some credit for who she is becoming. I know that my actions and words have an impact on her and I hope the loving caring mama ones surround her more than the biting tired cranky ones and that she knows how much I love her and how much what I am doing is because of her. Because I want her to know how wonderfully rewarding it is to do something so hard. I want her to know that she can be whatever she wants to be, not because I tell it to her but because she sees her mama working for it and loving it. And I want her to be proud of me.

I want her to be exactly who she is: An independent, enthusiastic, sensitive, caring, thoughtful, silly, creative person. I love you, my little Pumpkin Butt!

In other news: I am the micro master. I totally kicked ass on the microbiology exam. Not only that - everyone else seemed to really struggle with it. I am not an imposter.

I fear my day in the sun is soon to come to a close. The dreaded Physio (well, biochem, cell bio) exam is coming up on Thursday. Oy. I'll be glad to pass that one.

Halloween coming up Friday!

Todd is going to Seattle on Wednesday to celebrate Professor's 60th birthday celebration. All the Bones family Kung Fu schools will be represented - the smallest contingent coming from Ohana Kajukenbo in New Haven, CT. I used a sharpie to make an Ohana t-shirt so he can represent! I'm pretty excited about that. Also, Sifu promised me a new belt that says, "Sifu Hira". Hooray!

I had to cut down to one class per week, I'm just a little overwhelmed with school right now. But I am really happy with the turnout I'm getting and I'm so glad I'm able to continue in some capacity. Yay sifu hira!

10 days to election day: vote.