Back to life,

10.30.2006 | 9:19 pm | Uncategorized, Daily Life

Back to reality…

Vacation’s over. Big sigh. I spent the past four days sitting on the beautiful white beach in Destin. My friend Kelly came along and we got to enjoy those days free of the demands of child-rearing, while our sons were in the care of their daddies back home. It was niiiiice. The weather was perfect and warm most of the time, and we got some sun (I got too much!). We had a lot of fun and we even had a couple of adventures, which I’ll think about detailing later. But for now, I’m just going to focus on getting back into the swing of the daily routine, and on saying goodbye to the blissful relaxation of a weekend away from all responsibility.

Back to life,
Back to reality
Back to the here and now, yeah…

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Dear neighbors

10.21.2006 | 1:05 pm | Daily Life, Ranting

Dear neighbors across the street,

Please turn off your porch light.  You don’t have to turn off all three of them, but can you at least turn off the one on the side of your house that shines directly across the street and into our house at night?  Even with the blinds closed, it’s almost as light as sunrise with your stupid light shining directly into the window.  And while I’m thinking of it, why do you leave all three of your porch lights on 24 hours a day?  You don’t need porch lights in the daytime.  You really don’t need them at night, unless you’re coming or going.  And I can’t imagine needing three separate porch lights under any circumstances.  If your power bill alone isn’t enough reason to turn them off, hopefully you’re getting my subliminal messages I send every time I look your way and shake my head at your strange practices.

Dear neighbors directly to the west of us,

stop manufacturing meth*.  The smell is getting ridiculous.  I hope the drug enforcement officer that we’ve been talking to has obtained the warrants he needs so that y’all can be busted and we can go back to being able to breathe clean air whenever we’re outside.

* It’s not been proven they’re running a meth lab.  Lots of the signs are there, especially the toxic smoke.  The officer has been interested in what we’ve witnessed, and is concerned enough to look into it.  So, it’s very possible that’s what’s going on.

I just felt like getting that off my chest!

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Friday’s Feast

10.20.2006 | 2:23 pm | Uncategorized, Memes

Appetizer
What is your favorite beverage?
Toss-up between Coke and iced tea. I can’t drink tea very often though because it causes me to have terrible reflux.

Soup
Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.
My computer sits on the dining room table…
Three things on it right now are:
G’s sippy cup that has milk in it and needs to be put in the fridge
A flyer from Jo-Ann’s
A sheet of paper with a list of all the photos I want Philip to print out for frames

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?
8.5 and trying to make it to a 10. Honesty is a big thing to me. I try my best to be honest with everyone, although sometimes I still end up telling “white” lies (which are just as bad as any!) in order to be nice. I’m trying to do better and stop any type of lies.

Main Course
If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?
I just can’t think of why I’d want to change the name of any city.
Jesse Jackson wanted to change the name of NYC, though. He’s all about racial and ethnic reconciliation, so he proposed it be renamed “Hymie Town.” Yet, he got away with it and is somehow respected by the left.

Dessert
What stresses you out? What calms you down?
Having too many responsibilities, confrontation, whenever people try to pressure me into doing what THEY want, and worrying constantly about cancer…those are my biggest stresses.
What calms me down is God. Prayer and time with him always put my heart at peace.

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Funny!

10.18.2006 | 8:25 pm | Uncategorized, Daily Life, Gray Matters

This afternoon we washed the car and did some hosing down of the deck and porch areas.  G had a grand time stomping around in mudholes, digging his hands in the mud, and trying with all his might to get underneath the hose everytime we used it to spray water on something.  He was covered in mud and soaked, to boot.
When it was dinnertime, Philip took G inside so they could get a shower, while I stayed outside to finish up the car.  In the shower, G took a tinkle (as he usually does), but he aimed it at Philip’s foot.    Philip made a big silly deal out of it and G was so proud of himself, that after I came in from my work outside, he just had to tell me that he “pee-peed on Daddy’s foot”.  It was cute.

So later this evening, the three of us were playing catch in the entranceway.  G must’ve remembered what happened in the shower because he announced again that he’d pee-peed on Daddy’s foot in the shower.  I laughed and told him that was pretty funny.

Suddenly, he jumped up and started pulling his underwear down.  We asked him what in the world was he doing, and he said he was going to pee-pee on Daddy’s foot again!  He was going to do it, too! 

We were both all like, “NOoooooo!”  You don’t pee-pee outside the potty (or the shower)!  It was so, so funny.  It’s probably funnier if you were there, though.  Putting it into writing loses something.  But we were rolling when it happened.  G seemed kind of put out that he couldn’t do it again right there in the entranceway.  :D

Not much else to write about except that I’m getting so excited for Kelly’s visit next week!  I’ve tried not to think about it too much because I’m not the best with patience, but now that it’s closer, I’m getting giddy.  I hope we have lots of fun together, even though all we really plan on doing is hanging out, and occasionally wreaking havoc at area establishments.   Then on that Friday, she and I are heading off to spend the weekend at the beach.  That’s when things should get exciting.  Actually, it’ll probably be more of the same, but with much prettier scenery than here.

Got to go watch Lost now!  Hope tonight’s a good one.

Comments (15)


Weekend Fun (but not really)

10.17.2006 | 7:35 pm | Uncategorized, Daily Life, Gray Matters

G had his very first trip across the state line this weekend. :D We needed to sit him in the carseat we’re considering, to see how he fit inside it and how much room it gives him to grow. There are no stores around here that carry this particular carseat; the closest place that had one in stock was Babies ‘R’ Us in Mobile, so off we went on Sunday. It was an uneventful hour-long drive, unless you count the excitement of going through the tunnel. G was thoroughly impressed with the tunnel!

I was disappointed in the carseat because it doesn’t give us the height that it promises. It says it’s for kids up to 49 inches, which should give him 9 inches of extra height, since he’s 40 inches tall. However, when he was strapped into the seat, his shoulders were only 3 inches below the top harness slots! Since the seat is also considered outgrown when a child’s shoulders become level with the top harness slots, that only gives us 3 inches of growing room. Frustrating! But we’re still going to have to buy this seat because it’s the only option. I’m so angry at carseat manufacturers for not giving more options for tall children. And I’m angry that there isn’t a regulation that ALL carseats be equipped with EPS foam.

We didn’t buy it yet because we don’t have the money, but Philip thinks we will soon. I’m pretty sure G’s still safe in his current seat in the meantime, because he’s only at the height limit, not above it.

On our way home from Mobile, we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. G was behaving very badly! In case I’ve never made this clear, misbehavior is not acceptable to us in any form. We’re very strict on G when it comes to behaving, especially out in public. He knows there are immediate consequences for disobedience. I’ve always been appalled at the current parenting culture of letting kids run the show—especially now that I’m a parent. When kids are out of control in public, it makes for a miserable experience for everyone around. It’s common courtesy to make sure your kid isn’t disturbing other people (but apparently it’s not common sense!). I don’t have a perfect kid by any means, but I don’t let him get away with disobedience whenever he does act out, and I’m always mindful that he’s not disturbing others whenever we’re around other people.

So before our food came, he was eating his fruit that we brought with us. He kept slamming his cup down on the table, making a loud noise that was no doubt disturbing other diners. After the 2nd or 3rd time, we told him that if he did it one more time, he was going to be taken outside. Sure enough, only a couple of minutes later, he slammed his cup down again. Philip unstrapped him from his seat and told him he was taking him outside. G started bawling…LOUDLY. It was horribly embarrassing! As I sat at the table sipping my Coke, I could hear G yelling as Philip carried him through the store, “I’m going to be a GOOD BOYYYYYY!!!!!” Um, sorry, it’s too late for that now! I sat, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room turned on me. I hate moments like that.

They came back and G was on his best behavior for a while. After the food came, G was eating off of a small plate. He started making funny hand motions, and we reminded him to sit still and focus on eating. Yet, just a little while later, he slung his arm out and accidentally knocked his plate onto the floor. Of course, it shattered instantly. The entire room went quiet and I wanted to shrink under the table once again! All I could think was that everyone must think we were just another set of parents whose kid is out of control.

The manager came running over to sweep it up, and we apologized. He was really nice about it. G, however, acted like he didn’t realize that what had happened was a bad thing. He immediately started asking for more biscuit, never acknowledging his accident. This frustrated me, but Philip did some quick thinking.

Philip explained to G that those plates weren’t ours, but they belonged to that man (the manager), and that by carelessly slinging his arm around, he broke that man’s plate. Philip told G that after he finished eating, he was going to have to go tell the manager that he was sorry for breaking his plate.

So once we were done, Philip took G and found the manager. Philip told the manager that G had something to say to him, and G, who was clearly feeling the responsibility of what he’d done, said in a shaky voice, “I’m sorry I broke your plate.” He wasn’t crying, but was close to it. The manager was sweet and told him it was okay, and he thanked him for apologizing.

Later in the car, G was proud of himself for apologizing. He kept talking about it excitedly and saying, “That man was very, very nice.” Who says that discipline is bad for kids? (Actually, plenty of people do. It’s scary to think what society will be like in 15-20 years.) Our society already has a huge problem with personal responsibility; I’m sure it correlates with the lax discipline that became prevalent only a couple of generations ago.

I think it was a great idea because it made G realize that, while it was an accident and accidents do happen, he still needed to take responsibility for it and apologize for his mistake. I also think it was good to do because I don’t want to give the appearance that we’re people who just let our kid mess stuff up, yet never acknowledge it. That manager no doubt experiences that every single day in his job. I wanted him to see that we care how our kid acts, and we care that the plate was broken, and also that we appreciate his graciousness in not asking us to pay for it, which certainly would’ve been within his rights.

I was so glad to get home later that night. I don’t like Mobile at all! It’s a gross, scary city. Everything there seems so dingy and run-down, and the crime rate is very high. Back when Philip lost his job, we actually considered living there at one point. I’m so glad that never panned out for us. I was happy to get back across the state line to home sweet home. I love where we live!

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Monday Madness

10.16.2006 | 1:09 pm | Memes

This week’s was a really good activity for me!
Name 10 things you would do if you had more time.

  1. Write.  I have three books in my head that I’m always working on (mentally), but I never have time to sit down and get any of them started.  One in particular, the detailed story of how I was healed from endometriosis and infertility, is always being put on my heart by God.  Nearly every day, I can feel him urging and reminding me to do it.  I just lack the time and the discipline to dive into it.
  2. Draw.  I’m inspired by so many things I see, but I never have time to go sit for a few hours and draw something.  I would love to get to do that!
  3. Read.  I love to read!  I have so many books that I want to read, and I’m always discovering more…but life with a 2-year old leaves little time to read.  Every now and then, I get a couple of hours to sit and read.  Those are always delicious chunks of time!
  4. SLEEEEEEP.  I could sleep for days if I had the chance.  I feel like I’m still running on the sleep deficit I accrued during G’s first few months of waking every 2 hours at night.  Before G, I used to sleep whenever I wanted, for the most part.  If I didn’t get enough sleep, I’d just nap the next day or go to bed early the next night.  I remember lazy weekends where all we did was lounge on the couch and read or watch TV, taking snooze breaks in between.  When you have a child, that changes forever.  It was (and still is) one of the hardest adjustments of parenthood for me.
  5. Paint & fix up the rooms in our house that have yet to be fixed up:  the bathroom, our bedroom, the dining room and the kitchen.
  6. Print out new photos for all our frames.  The ones up now are very out of date!  I need to do this soon.
  7. Catch up with old friends.  I have a handful of old friends who live no more than an hour away; we keep in touch, but despite all our desires to actually get together and SEE each other, we’ve yet to do that because of schedule conflicts.
  8. Call and catch up with several of my friends who live far away.  We used to call each other regularly and talk, but since I had G, I rarely have time to “just talk” anymore.  It takes careful planning around my schedule, so it rarely happens.
  9. Transfer the rest of our VHS tapes over to DVDs.  I really need to do this, but I keep procrastinating.
  10. Give myself a pedicure!  I haven’t done my toenails since early in the summer!  I usually make sure to take time for this every few weeks, but this summer was so busy that I never kept up with it.  I want to paint my toenails one last time before sandal season is over!

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Ewww.

10.13.2006 | 7:08 pm | Daily Life

Someone, somewhere in our neighborhood decided that a great way to dispose of a dead cat would be to put it in a plastic grocery bag and throw it out into the ditch.   Such fine people who live around here.

We passed by this bag of putrid smell on our evening walk; we were gagging and wretching. Then, sometime during the night, Reagan (our dog) decided to go locate the dead cat-in-a-bag, drag it into the yard, and—of course—roll all over it. He was so proud the next morning as he sat in the front yard with rotting cat smell all over him. I can’t even begin to describe how utterly disgusting and horrible he smelled; then there was the ghastly smell coming from the grocery bag that was now in our front yard.

Reagan had black spots of…gross cat remains…smeared all over his neck. There were actually little swarms of gnats hovering around the spots. It was awful. It beats all the times he’s rolled in armadillo oil, and that’s a hard smell to beat.

Today luckily happened to be garbage day, so Philip used the shovel to put the cat-in-a-bag into the big garbage can by the road.  Now our garbage can needs a good bleaching out because even though the nasty bag was only in there for half an hour at most, it smells wretched. Ugh.

Philip had to shampoo Reagan three times in order to get rid of the smell. Reagan didn’t enjoy it one bit—he hates getting a bath anyway, but it was chilly today and he froze his booty off. I don’t feel the least bit sorry for him. He’s disgusting!  I can’t even bring myself to go near him or to let G near him for a while.

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Monday Madness

10.9.2006 | 10:49 pm | Uncategorized, Memes, Reviews

1. Name three people you would pick (and why) if you could choose who to be stranded on a deserted island with.

I can’t think of anyone besides Philip and G, and other than them I’d probably choose my dear friend Kelly because I’m sure she’d be the most likely person I’d get along with day in and day out, under those circumstances.

2. What is your favorite genre of film and what is your favorite movie from that genre?

(At the risk of sounding full of myself :D ) I love to watch odd, offbeat independent films of any genre.  They just fit my personality and my preference for more artistic representations.  I don’t usually watch or like mainstream Hollywood movies (some of them are good, but not many).  The difference between the typical indie film and most Hollywood movies is quite notable.  One common feature of an indie film is that it moves much slower than a mainstream film, drawing the viewer in in such a way that’s impossible with Hollywood’s flashy, unrealistic portrayals of most stories.  I love to be sucked into a slowly unwinding, intense story with lots of dialogue and quiet, thoughtful scenes.  Sometimes, they’re just downright weird and disturbing, and I like those types of films too.
I have many favorites, but I can’t narrow them down easily.  The first one that comes to mind is “Felicia’s Journey”.

3. Which country would you like to visit and why?

China.  I’m hopelessly captivated by most every region of China.  I’d like to travel to them all one day.

4. What are you driving these days? What’s it’s (their) good and bad points? Would you buy another one, and why or why not?

1997 Subaru Legacy and 1995 Chevy S-10.  We’ve had the Subaru for seven years and it’s been so good to us (Japanese cars always are!).  But it’s too small and we need something bigger.  The truck was a gift handed down from Philip’s dad four years ago (it was his old truck).  It runs great for an American car but unfortunately there’s no room for all three of us in the single cab, so it’s only used whenever one of us drives somewhere alone.  We call it the “freedom” vehicle, since whoever gets to drive it is getting away for a while.  LOL!  We need a new vehicle in a bad way, but it’s not something that’s possible right now.

5. “Lost,” “24,” or both?
Lost, definitely.  Is it Wednesday yet???

6. You’ve been very good this year. What should Santa bring you for Christmas?

Our Christmas gift this year (both mine and Philip’s) is going to be the new carseat for G.   The only way we can afford it is going to be to not do Christmas gifts for each other.  Which is fine, because making sure G is safely harnessed is a good enough gift for me.
If I could have what I really want, it would be a new truck with a double cab.  Too bad there’s no Santa Claus!  ;)

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I was tagged…

10.6.2006 | 1:51 pm | Memes

by my friend Stacy with this meme. :)   Thank Stacy!

1. Favorite memory of your mother?
She used to write notes and put them in my lunchbox every day when I was in grade school. Sometimes she’d draw a little picture for me too, and they were always funny. I loved them and my friends always loved to read them, too. We’d sit down and open our lunches and the first thing everyone wanted to do was read my note!

2. Favorite memory of your father?
When he took me on a two-day road trip in Dec. of my 5th grade year (1984). He’d just upped the wattage of his radio station, and he needed to drive in a huge radius from our town in order to map how far the signal reached in every direction. So we drove all day, for two days, all up through Alabama and the FL panhandle. The last day, we ended the trip by going to the beach so I could go see the water, and then we stopped at a toy store and he bought the Atari 5200 that my brothers and I were going to be getting for Christmas. On the way home that night, we were jamming to Glenn Campbell in the car’s 8-track player…it was SWEET!

3. What one skill would you like to wake up tomorrow and be able to do (though you’d never learned it)?
How to read minds!
Okay, a real-life skill? I would love to know how to swim.

4. Which one of your dreams has come true?
My dream of finding real, true, unconditional love, as well as my dream of being a mother, have both come true.

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