Author Archives: Julie Ring

About Julie Ring

Overcommitted, type-A personality, wife, mother, and full-time marketing executive. Just trying to balance this crazy life.
Oct4

Crazy Week

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Overcommitted + Type-A Personality = CRAZY!

So, while the name of this blog is “A Different Kind of Crazy,” most of my weeks are manageable. But every once in a while, parts of my week spiral out of control, and I find myself thinking that if I can make it though the rest of the week, I’m golden. This is one of those weeks…

Starting tomorrow, I will be going non-stop until Sunday afternoon, after my daughter Olivia’s 8th family birthday party. (This of course makes me wonder about who is going to do the laundry and grocery shopping after I collapse on the couch…)

So, coming attractions during my next four days include: being a fashion show model with my sweet lab-shepherd mix, Lilly; bringing donuts to Olivia’s class for her birthday; attending and watching Evan perform at a fundraiser for Kinetic Kids; hosting Olivia’s birthday party with her friends at the Magik Theatre; and celebrating my dear friend Cyndie’s 50th birthday.

So, this is my different kind of crazy for the next few day, and now that I think about all of the special things that are going to happen, I’m really looking forward to mass craziness!

Sep18

Scooby and Friends

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I have a confession to make – I’ve always loved Scooby-Doo. I remember watching Scooby when I was growing up and never tiring from the familiar theme: Scooby and friends meet a creepy person, strange things start happening, Scooby and Shaggy get scared, the friends trap the villan who turns out to be the creepy person from the beginning, and the villain proclaims, “I would have gotten away with it, too,  if it wasn’t for you meddling kids.” 

I was overjoyed when Olivia made the transition from Elmo to Scooby when she was almost four. I was impressed when she learned to sing the theme song with an English accent, and I was openly disappointed when she traded the mystery machine for My Friends Tigger and Pooh.

So, imagine my elation when five-year-old Evan asked to be Scooby-Doo for Halloween and started watching those classic shows.

Tonight at dinner, Evan informed us that he would like each of us to be one of  Scooby’s friends for Halloween. Even better, he went around the table and told each of us which characters we would be. Daddy would be Freddy, and Nicholas would be Velma. I quickly became aware of where this conversation was going… As I had suspected, Olivia was Daphne, and I was named Shaggy.

When I asked Evan why he made me Shaggy, he said, “So you can be my friend.” With a full heart, I answered, “And we can eat big sandwiches together.”

Scooby-Doo and Friends

The Ring Family – 2012

Aug16

Conversations in the Car

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I’m not sure why some of the most interesting conversations I have with my kids happen in the car. Maybe it’s because we are confined. Maybe it’s because they are excited to go to school or to come home. Maybe there is something about riding in a 5,800 piece of metal that pulls the interesting thoughts,  humor, and cleverness out of them.

Not sure, but here’s the conversation we had yesterday on the way home:

Background: The kids always want to play on my ipad. In fact, I’m not even sure I can call it my ipad anymore, since I almost never get to use it. Every so often, I will let Olivia play on my husband’s ipad while Evan plays on “mine” in order to accommodate the kids, avoid meltdowns, and keep peace in the house.

Olivia: Mom, can I play on the ipad after we eat dinner?

Evan: Mom, can I play on the ipad after we eat dinner?

Olivia: Evvvaaannnn. I asked first.

Evan: But, Olivia, I had a good day today. (Evan doesn’t get to play on the ipad if he gets his name on the board.)

Olivia: I did too.

Me: Olivia, if  you’re lucky, I’ll let you use Daddy’s ipad.

Evan: Olivia is lucky. Olivia is lucky. Olivia is lucky.

Well, Olivia wasn’t so lucky, because Marvin took his ipad to Phoenix with him, so we had to take turns playing with “my” ipad. Again, I never got a turn!

Aug14

The Tale of Scary Date Night….

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Having three children with busy schedules, a demanding full-time job, and after-work activities, I rarely get a night out alone with my husband.

Last Friday night, my niece and her boyfriend, who were visiting from Albany, NY, were scheduled to have dinner and a ghost tour of downtown San Antonio. Sadly, the boyfriend ended up with a scary stomach bug. Since the tickets were already purchased and non-refundable, Marvin and I were recruited to fill in. Honestly, after a long week, both of us dreamed of relaxing at home with a bottle of wine/beer.

I was only vaguely interested in the tour, since I openly admit that I believe in ghosts. My husband, on the other hand, is a total non-believer. Our secret plan was to have dinner, and if we became bored with the tour, we would duck into one of our favorite martini bars.

Reluctantly, we headed downtown and straight to the bar at the Menger, one of San Antonio’s most haunted hotels. The tour started promptly after dinner, and we ventured through the hotel where many of our fellow ghost tourees excitedly snapped pictures of orbs. The more excited the tourees got, the sillier Marvin and I got. That’s when we started snapping goofy pictures of ourselves all over downtown San Antonio. One at the Menger Hotel. One at the Alamo. One at the Emily Morgan Hotel. One in some random place that I can’t remember. One at San Fernando Cathedral.

As it turns out, we did not accidentally snap any pictures of resident spirits in San Antonio, but we did have a good time sharing drinks, giggling at our pictures, and wandering around areas of our city I had never seen before. I think we both appreciated and enjoyed our night out, even if we had to share it with ghosts.

Jul31

A conversation with Olivia

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During the school year, I drive Olivia to school each day. Our less than five-minute drive doesn’t allow much time for conversation, besides a review of her after school schedule or a short spelling word quiz.

For the past week, Olivia has been attending Camp Showbiz at the Magik Theatre, which is about 19 miles from home. The 30 minute drive into downtown San Antonio gives me time to have a full on conversation with my sweet, sensitive, and innocent seven year old. One day last week, when I hadn’t had enough coffee  and Olivia may have had chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, I finally had to tell her that we had already covered a variety of tricky, inappropriate, and complex topics and that we just needed to listen to the radio for the rest of the drive. So here’s what we talked about…

  • Becoming a billionaire. She confessed that she wants to be a billionaire when she grows up. (Which I think is fine as long as she takes good care of her parents. I worry about how she thinks she is going to become a billionaire , though I’m pretty sure it has something to do with acting on the Disney Channel. Or, marrying Daniel Radcliffe – see below…)
  • Her conversion to Methodism. As we passed the Methodist Heart Hospital, Olivia asked me if that was where she was born. I told her that she was born at Methodist hospital, but not that one. She insisted that since she was born at Methodist hospital, it would be okay for her to become a Methodist when she turned 18. (She has wanted to convert since early this summer when she spent a week at vacation bible school at the Methodist church.)
  • Daniel Radcliffe. She thinks he is totally hot and wants to know if he has a younger brother.
  • Radio Disney censorship rules. When the incredibly catchy song Price Tag played on the radio, Olivia wanted to know why they censored the word damn but not the word ho… (Good question! At least she didn’t ask me what “ho” means…)
  • Competing in beauty pageants. She announced that she wanted compete in  beauty pageants, and I was completely caught off guard. (I told her that  Toddlers and Tiaras is creepy and there is no way I am going to be on that show!)

And who says kids grow up too soon?