I didn't sleep very well last night because the boys are stuffy and not feeling well. We all get sick around this time of year. Libbie, you are the allergy expert.....is it ragweed? I am so allergic to ragweed that I always wind up with a sinus infection in September. When I woke up tired this morning I also realized that it's Wednesday, which made it even harder to get up. You all know how much Wednesdays suck. Here we go again......let's see if we can make it out in one piece!
I am going to Bodyworks this morning. It's supposed to be an awesome class. Later, Lindsey is getting a haircut. She wants bangs like me. She wants to look like her mama, isn't that sweet? It won't last. Ha ha. I have to pick her up from school though because she has dance and cheerleading. Isn't that ridiculous? Checking a child out of school to get a hair cut........I will never do this again. She is going to have to choose between dance and cheerleading next year. Then like I said, we have dance, we have cheerleading and football, and then we'll come home and eat and shower and it'll be 10:00 before we go to bed. Believe it or not, I really don't mind the running around....I just hate Wednesdays. They are completely ridiculous and a huge hump to get over.
Don is loving jury duty. He got a case that is better than reality TV, so he says. I'm jealous! I want to be picked! He told me that I will never get picked unless I pretend to be something I'm not....stoic. Oh my GOSH am I anything but stoic! You can see every emotion on my face! I hate it! And Don is the most stoic person that I have ever met! We were talking about how different we are (in this way) last night. He's like a Greek statue and I am the dramatic clown in polka dots goofing off and dancing around, spouting out my opinions. Isn't that a funny visual? It's totally true.
Here's the Word of the Day:
metaphrastic \met-uh-FRAST-ik\, adjective:
Having the quality of a literary work that has been translated or changed from one form to another, as prose into verse.
When I was a little girl I used to devour books.Reading was my absolute favorite thing to do and it worked out well for me, considering that I hated the cold weather and never played in the snow. Obviously, I am talking about being in Milwaukee with my mom, not in Florida with my dad.I hated the wet, cold snow.I hated taking off my frozen, stuck-to-me pants after sledding, so I never went.I hated that the water coating my eyeballs turned to ice, I hated that my neck muscles turned into rocks, and I hated that I was the only one ever bitching about it.To this day, I think that I am one of the only people who doesn’t refer to snow as “pretty” and doesn’t feel any amount of intoxication when seeing flurries.I used to beg my teacher to stay inside with her in the warmth, but she never allowed me to, so I was forced to curl myself into a ball at recess and read a book rather than play with all of the other kids.I used to get books in my Easter basket; which I now realize is a little odd considering that most kids get chocolate bunnies.I used to sit all day and read a book until I finished.I loved turning the crisp pages, roughing up the tough binding, and using cute bookmarks.I love the smell of moldy old library books….this I find slightly odd.I love the tangible for many reasons and until recently, I have turned my nose up to the Kindle.
I got a Kindle for my birthday and screamed when I opened it because for the past couple of months I have decided that they are really cool.I originally thought that it would be like reading a computer screen, but the technology is so amazing, it seriously looks like paper.Also, I learned that the classics are free.This alone made me want one.I didn’t tell anyone, so I was shocked when I opened it.My brother-in-law thoughtfully bought me a gift and it was something that I had really wanted.To tell you how much the screen looks like paper, I was looking for the non-existent paper to peel off…..it was the screen and I realized it once I plugged it in.
Yesterday I read “Aesop’s Fables” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” on my new Kindle.I had to read “Aesop’s Fables” when I was in school, but I didn’t remember them very well.I think that I am going to read one a day to my kids.They are very wise.“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.One of my professors told me about it a few years ago.It is one of the first “feminist” stories because it’s about the time period that men threw women into the looney bin for being hormonal, hysterical, or Heaven forbid, having a personality or interests of any kind outside of motherhood. It was published in 1892.The woman in the story is told she’s sick, but it seems that she’s only suffering from post-partum depression.She’s locked into a room and begins to fixate on the wallpaper because she lacks stimulation of any kind. She isn't allowed to write, but sneaks it. You read the unraveling of her mind and it's sort of disturbing. I respect women who had the courage to be thought different or weird in a time when men were complete idiots. Gilman published this in 1892 when doctors knew nothing about women or how the human body really worked.At this point in time, Sigmund Freud was still studying, which means that this was before HIS crazy-ass ideas. This gives you an idea of how amazing it is that she spoke up because the medical field was so clueless-of course, they didn't know that they were.
Anyway, I love the new Kindle.I started to read “War and Peace” and chickened out for the time being.I need more time, patience, and focus to read it. I’m going to start something new today.It will be a classic, because I have like 14 of them saved.They are FREE!
I will add this….I am still old school.I still love books with pages, I will still buy books, and I will never go completely Kindle, but I am having fun with my new toy!
Here’s the Word of the Day:
parergon \pa-RUR-gon\, noun:
1. Work undertaken in addition to one's principal work. 2. Something that is an accessory to a main work or subject; embellishment.
Don has jury duty today. Everyone gets jury duty but me! And no one ever wants to go, but I actually do want to go! They never pick me! I think that I want to go because I am so opinionated, which is why maybe I would make a terrible juror. Or maybe that would make a good one?
flounce \FLOUNS\, verb:
1. To go with impatient, exaggerated movements.
noun: 1. A strip of material gathered or pleated and attached at one edge, with the other edge left loose or hanging
1. To approve; confirm or ratify. 2. To register (a specific make of automobile in general production) so as to make it eligible for international racing competition.
I have so much to say about the new things going on around here, but today I have to talk about the Logan and Lindsey.I am babysitting a little girl now during the week and I want to talk about her, but I just don’t have time!Tomorrow I’ll write more about it.Today I want to talk about today.
This morning we all woke up early and got ready for the long day ahead.Lindsey had a choreography session at 10:30.She had to change into her cheerleading uniform at dance and we headed straight for the football game.The girls did an awesome job cheering and Logan played, in the words of the coaches, “like a warrior”.He was singled out at the meeting after the game because he played hard, and his body showed it.He kept going back in after he got hurt.There was a moment when I had finally had seen enough and ran over to check on him.I really try not to do that because I know that no kid wants their mom babying them, but he was down on the field and I didn’t see him moving for a while and it scared me.When he got up and sat on the bench, I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t seriously injured.He jammed his fingers the first time he got hurt, then the second time someone stepped on his already hurt fingers.His elbow got stuck in a facemask and twisted, he has a nasty abrasion on his arm, bruises on his other arm, and his stomach looks like it was put through a meat grinder from sliding on the grass to catch someone.Football is such an odd and violent sport.It’s easy to cheer and have fun watching a game when it isn’t your child, but watching your son play at this level with kids who weigh 180 pounds—it’s hard.I am careful with him so he won’t get hurt, his whole life, and then I throw him out there to get beat up like that?It’s weird.Don keeps reminding me that Logan is a tough kid.
I think that I am so proud of the fact that he isn’t a quitter and that he works so hard at everything.He is an awesome student, he works hard on the field, and he’s a great friend.I heard that today when his friend, Zach, got the wind knocked out of him and was lying on the field; he was the only one who ran to him to check on him.He slid to him on his knees and asked if he was ok.And yesterday Lindsey said that he stuck up for her at school when a girl was being mean to her.Apparently, one little girl said that Lindsey was being oblivious and was about to get hit in the head with a ball.Then the mean girl said “That wouldn’t be a bad thing.”Lindsey’s friend, Hannah, said “Be quiet if you’re going to talk about my friend that way!You are going to have to go through me if you’re going to be mean to her!”Then the girl went up to Logan and apologized to him for having Lindsey for a sister. He replied “Why don’t you get out of my face and go apologize to my sister and stop being a brat!”I love my Logiebear.Logan said that the girl is short, fat and mean and she’s just jealous of Lindsey.Oh, goodness…..
When Logan was hurt today Lindsey was yelling “My brother!He’s hurt!Oh, Logiebear!”And then all of the cheerleaders were yelling for Logan.
I’m proud of both of my kids right now.They both have a lot on their plates and yet they are doing what they are supposed to be doing lately.(I am literally knocking on wood right now.)Lindsey is dancing and cheering her little heart out and Logan is busting his butt.They are both getting good grades and being good friends.I am happy with them…..right now.
Lindsey is at her friend’s house right now.She went to Julia’s last night and she’s there again now.They recorded these videos and had Julia’s mom put them on YouTube.They are goofballs.Check ‘em out:
I have always wondered what babies dream about, haven't you? This is one thing that I am planning on asking about God when I die. I know that Dylan isn't a baby anymore, but he's still close enough to a baby for you to appreciate this story.
Dylan would not go to bed last night. He was wide awake long after he was supposed to be asleep, so I let him hang out with me and we watched a movie together. He ended up falling asleep in my bed. This morning around 5:00 he had his eyes closed and was shouting "NO! I get it! I push it! I push it! I get it!" I think he was dreaming about pushing a button, and I imagine that he was fighting it out with Carson! It was so cute! He was sticking his hand out to push something. I thought it was funny. Just thought I'd share.
Here's the Word of the Day:
proclitic \proh-KLIT-ik\, adjective:
(Of a word) closely connected in pronunciation with the following word and not having an independent accent.
While I was considering whether or not I even had the time this morning to write about the chaos and craziness that was yesterday, I considered the fact that if I didn’t write about it, I wasn’t sure what I had time for or what I even felt like writing this morning.Honestly, I didn’t want to re-live yesterday, so I didn’t want to write about it.It’s not that it was a bad day, just exhausting.Wednesdays are so extremely long and I am really tired. I guess that Logan was too, since I woke him up and THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, Lindsey came down and told me that he was back in bed and still in his pajamas.He looked bewildered when I woke him up by pulling him out of the bed.Shouting his name and shaking him didn’t work, so I pulled him out of bed.He came down dressed, but didn’t brush his teeth, so I sent him back up.I literally put his medicine into his mouth, peeled the banana and put it into his hand.Then he couldn’t find his shoes, so I found them.Then he left without his lunch, so he came back.He’s finally gone.I can’t believe that he didn’t miss that bus.Logan always gives me something to write about, even when it’s dry. I feel like Fred shouting "Wilma", except it's "LOGAAAAAN!" The funny thing is, I have so many new things to write about, so many crazy stories; I just don’t have any damn time!!!!
OH!And I was saving this because there’s a story to it, but I am reading “War and Peace” on my new Kindle that my brother-in-law got me for my birthday!Later, I will tell the story.He’s so sweet.
One more thing, Don said that he bought me something yesterday: www.haphazarddaily.com.Isn’t that cool?Now it’ll be easier to find.It isn’t working for some reason yet; he has to do something to it.I’ll let you know when it works.It’s easier than the current address.
I have to take Carson to the plastic surgeon today to see what the next step is for his leg.I’m sure that he’ll probably schedule the next (and hopefully last) surgery.I’ll keep you updated.
Last night I went to Logan and Lindsey's school for Curriculum Night. I heard that they are both doing well, getting along most of the time, and that Logan is on Lindsey like white on rice. He is always making sure that she behaves herself, stops talking, etc. I think it's sweet that he cares; I am sure that Lindsey is irritated. It turns out that Logan is Mr. Social. He talked to everyone on the first day when most of the kids sat in their seats, feeling very nervous. That's why the teachers nominated him for that leadership role. He's some kind of ambassador; I don't know much about it.
I was walking down the halls and the mother of one of the kids that has been in Lindsey's class in past years stopped me and said "Did you see what Lindsey wrote down there on her bio? It's so funny!" She showed me and read it to me. My jaw hit the floor. This is a picture of what I saw:
I look AWESOME??? I was a mixture of shocked, embarrassed and mortified, but I also thought it was funny like everyone else around me. Everyone said "At least she's confident!" Looks that way, doesn't it? It's so funny how much you beat yourself up as a parent. You raise your kid to be confident and then you are like "Wait! Not too much there!" My brother-in-law said that he'd rather her have a positive self-image than a negative one. I agree. I told her to tone it down a bit though. And by the way, I am not one of these parents who say "You are the most beautiful, most awesome, blah blah blah." I give her compliments, but I don't make her think that she's the only one in the world. Actually, I have worried that I am TOO hard on her.
Here's part of the cheerleading dance. Lindsey is in the pink shirt. They just started learning it on Monday, so they are working on it the majority of time at practice tonight. I think that I may have recorded it sideways again. I have a new phone and always forget which way to hold the thing.
Sorry! Just a Word of the Day today. I have so much to do, plus, I accidentally turned off the alarm this morning and that made everything even crazier. When I usually write, I wasn't. Have a great day!
hobson jobson \HOB-suhn-JOB-suhn\, noun:
The alteration of a word borrowed from a foreign language to accord more closely with the linguistic patterns of the borrowing language.
My mom has a friend whose niece was critically injured in the stage collapse in Indiana. I meant to mention it last week, but I didn't have a lot of information at that time. This morning my mom sent me a couple of links about the girl. Her name is Andrea and she is in a coma. Please look at the links so you will have an image to go with your prayers. She's beautiful, she's young, and she has a daughter and a husband. Remember that this could be any one of us, and any one of our relatives.
Dylan woke up crying at 3:30 this morning and I couldn’t go back to sleep.I know that if I fall asleep now, which I could at this point, I won’t be able to get up when the alarm goes off at 5:45—I’m blogging instead.(It’s 5:00 now, by the way.)
Yesterday was our get-stuff-done day.We did laundry and cleaned.And when I say we, I mean that I made the kids help me.I am shuttling them around so much right now that I am not home to do the things that need to get done, so they have to help more.Also, I am coaching for Lindsey and that has been a lot of extra work.Don did yard work and the kids and I worked inside.Actually, Logan helped us both.He is an awesome helper when he wants to be.Both of the kids had good attitudes yesterday, except with each other.They fought quite a bit.You can see that in Lindsey’s blog.She calls him a butthead.I told her to take that out, but she didn’t appreciate me trying to censor her.I am all for freedom of expression, as long as she learns how to spell “butthead” the right way.She spelled it “butthaed.”Haha.
Lindsey’s cheerleading squad got together yesterday and painted all of the banners needed for the season.We met at 2:00 in the fellowship hall of a church.I thought that it would take forever, but it didn’t even take 2 hours…..thankfully.
I have a lot to do today, but first on the agenda is the gym.I have been going, but not as much as I usually do because I have been so busy and stressed, which is exactly when I need it the most.
We have cheerleading and football practice tonight from 6:00-8:00 and the girls are going to have to bust their butts.Our first game is this Saturday.
Last Monday morning was that angry post.Remember? I vented about the kids not pulling their load?This morning I can say that I feel better and I hope for a better week.Last week was a terrible week, in many ways.It’s like, if we get everything done by Sunday night, the week goes well.If we don’t, (like last week) the week is total chaos and no one is happy.We have so much going on this week; I couldn’t bear to let that happen again.
Carson has to go back to the plastic surgeon on Thursday to see when his next, hopefully final, surgery will be.They removed about 40 percent of the birthmark in April and he thinks that he can remove the rest this time.I hope so.I am really dreading him having to go through this again.I’m dreading the surgery, the pain, and the fact that he’ll have to stay off of his leg for 3 weeks again.He did so well the first time, but I hate asking him to do it again.Poor Carson.I’m already sad about it.
I think I woke up earlier than the people at Dictionary.com. I haven't been emailed my Word of the Day yet.
This morning I woke up and Lindsey was picking up the house. She said that she just wanted to be helpful. I hugged and squeezed her hard and kissed her like a million times. I love when Lulu is sweet. Lately I have been pretty irritated with her negative attitude, so it was nice for her to be so helpful and pleasant.She constantly says "What if this happens, what if that happens," and I have been calling her Debbie Downer because she always talks about the one negative thing among a slew of awesome things. My mom asked her how her new school was about a week ago and Lindsey could've said any number of things. Her response was "It smells funny."
My mom told me a funny story yesterday about something that Lindsey did while she was staying with her. Lindsey is always freaked out by stuff. It could be a doll, a picture, a stupid thing in a non-scary movie, and it's touch and go and you never know if something will bother her. She watched "Twilight" and didn't get scared, but she's scared of this one, sweet, innocent little doll in her room. I'll never forget the time I took her to see "The Cat in the Hat" with Mike Myers when she was 4 or 5 and she had nightmares for a month about a giant cat. Anyway, back to the story.When Lindsey was at my mom's house, she kept taking a picture off of the wall and telling my mom that it scared her. Amelie stays in the same room when she’s there and loves the picture, so my mom said to leave it up and that she was being silly. Do you want to know what the picture was? It was a picture of Mary. Yes, Mary, the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lindsey said that the eyes followed her and that she didn't like it. My mom said "But it's Mary, so it isn't bad if they DO follow you! She’s nice!" Friday night my mom found the picture stuffed under the bed.Lindsey must have used a broom to shove it as far back as she did.
Oh, Lulu.
odoriferous \oh-duh-RIF-er-uhs\, adjective:
Yielding or diffusing an odor.
It was hot, it was disgusting, and I don't have anything more to say about football and cheerleading pictures. I'm glad they're over.
Again, Logan ran off before I could take a picture of him in his jersey, so I only have pictures of Lindsey and her friends! Girls are all about the pictures!
I typically write my blog first thing in the morning while the babies are still asleep, but I am writing this at 9:48 on Thursday night and posting it tomorrow morning.I got the urge to write about something, so here I am.
After having a tremendously stressful day, I’ll get to that later, I am smiling ear to ear because God just gave me a reminder that Don and I can do something right once in a while.I know that I should be going in to reprimand Logan and Lindsey right now because it is almost 10:00 and they are talking, but I can’t.Logan is on the top bunk, Lindsey has left her room to sleep on his bottom bunk, and they are discussing school.They are talking about kids, about rumors, and I was just outside the bedroom eating up the fact that since they have been in the same classes they have actually gotten along and been friends.We have had a stressful and busy household for the last couple of weeks, but for ONCE they are getting along and I am seeing a change.The fighting has plagued me for years and I am so happy right now.They are in there hanging out and having the conversations that I have hoped for.This makes me so happy, especially after a long day.
Today was mainly spent trying to get the cheerleading squad organized with Melissa while trying to keep the babies safe and happy.I must have sent out 150 emails, and Carson especially did not appreciate the lack of Mommy-time.The day started out with an email from a parent complaining about girl drama, so we had to figure out how to deal with that.We decided that the best thing to do is some team-building exercises with the girls and to really reinforce positive attitudes and behavior.Then we had a hair bow issue.A couple of days ago, the bows that we were planning on ordering suddenly weren’t available, so today Melissa went to just about every craft store imaginable to get the ribbon so that we can make them ourselves.While she was doing that, I organized the banner-making party.Sunday at 2:00 we are getting the girls together to eat pizza and paint the ALREADY DRAWN OUT banners, which means that I had to get the supplies and banner paper today so that I could write the slogans to be painted on Sunday.I decided that I couldn’t handle drawing giant bubble letters for 8 banners at this juncture in my life when there are other able-bodies available to help, so I asked the parents if they would mind taking some of the load off of Melissa and me.I have four parents who offered….thank God.After dinner I got them cut, rolled up, and ready to go.Tomorrow I have to drop the banners off to the parents who offered to draw them, and I will probably meet up with Melissa to finish the hair bows.The bows have to be finished by tomorrow night because we have team pictures on Saturday morning at 9:30. Oh, another issue that we had is that some of the girls don't have their uniforms and we had to make sure that the parents know when and where to pick them up Friday evening. It never fails that when you send out an email with information, at least a couple of people ask questions that have already been answered. On a typical day, ok, fine. Today it was really annoying.
I went to the gym around 5:00 and found out that it was THE only thing that was going to relax me.I was so wound-up; really, I have been that way all week.I have felt like I am in a pool with weights on my legs and my nose is the only thing sticking out of the water.I’m not kidding…..it’s been a rough week and everything has been snowballing.I don’t even blog about everything going on because it would be so mundane, but to me, it’s anything but mundane, it’s crazy.There are like ten things going on at any given moment of my life.Sometimes I roll with it, and sometimes I feel the pressure.This week I have felt it and I have almost cried several times.
After I left the gym with the boys, I picked Lindsey up from dance and we went to the craft store.We were talking and I found out that she didn’t have a good day either.We both found comfort in the fact that neither of us have had a good week.I love the fact that Lindsey has a blog.She loves to write it and it’s a great way for her to share her feelings.She is excited that she has already had around 150 hits.She posted tonight and she talked about her awful day.By the way, a boy asked her out a couple of days ago.She said she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so she said yes, but that Henry still has her heart.One, two, three…..Awwwwwwwww!
No Word of the Day because it isn’t tomorrow yet.
Have a fantastic Friday, everyone!I’m sweaty and disgusting, so I am hitting the shower now and hopefully I will have sweet dreams tonight.I have been having tooth dreams.My teeth either fall out or turn to chalk and crumble to pieces.It’s been horrible!I must be grinding more than usual.Bluggghhhhhhh, it’s so gross.
Last night at practice, Logan hit someone so hard that the kid had to go home. Football is such a weird sport. It goes against everything that I try to tell Logan all day and then I am supposed to be excited that he hits a kid so hard that he sees stars, staggers, and has to go home. The coach said "Your boy was hittin' hard today!" And of course, I am happy that he did well, but the mom in me wants to shudder. I never say these things at practice because I know that football doesn't have room for mothers. It's best to nod, keep my mouth shut and tell Logan that I'm proud of him.
It looks like we are already have some girl drama on our cheerleading squad. Thankfully, Lindsey is not involved. I noticed it and said something to one of the girls on Saturday, but I guess she didn't take me seriously. It is too early in the season for this crap and we won't tolerate it. We have decided that we will sit girls out if they can't be nice.
Here's a picture of Lindsey flying. It isn't a great picture because Dylan was on my lap when I was taking the picture.
Today is a slower day, only dance at 5:00-6:30. Yay!
Here's the Word of the Day:
purloin \per-LOIN\, verb:
To take dishonestly; steal.
I learned about something very interesting when I stayed with my Uncle Andy.I haven’t been fully educated on the matter yet, but I would still like to share what I do know because I found it so interesting.
I learned that there is an old psychological theory stating that there are four personality types in existence.Sometimes people can be a mixture, sometimes people can be just one of the types.If you are two, according to my uncle, you are usually 80 percent one way and 20 percent another.First, I will briefly tell you about each personality type and then I will explain a little about what I have learned and why it’s extremely helpful to research this and apply it to your everyday relationships.You may not question who you are and why you are attracted to certain types anymore after you learn about this.I pulled some from Wikipedia and the rest, I learned from my uncle.
Sanguine: These are the “people persons.”They are extremely extroverted, talkative, enjoy social events, boisterous, the “life” of the party, have big dreams, daydream often, they are thoughtful and sensitive, but also very emotional people.Sanguines have a hard time following through with things sometimes.Following through is really going against the very nature of a Sanguine.The Sanguine is chronically late, forgetful, and sarcastic.Also, when pursuing a new hobby, they often get bored and move on to something else.
Melencholy:These are the worriers.They worry about the bad in the world, the what-if’s, the hypothetical, they worry about being late, they worry about the weather and always know what the weather will be.These people can be creative, they are perfectionists, and they are independent.It seems to me that they are very thoughtful to others because they prepare for the bad in most occasions.
Choleric:These are the people who get things done, the leaders.They are ambitious; they try to instill things in others, and sometimes can take over other personalities, particularly phlegmatic.These people are the successful types, often political leaders.They are can tend to be manipulative.Without them, who knows what the world would look like?
Plegmatic:These are like the absolute opposite of Sanguines.They are shy, do not like change, prefer their own routines.They are self-content and affectionate.They are observant, curious, rational, calm, and think things through before actually doing them.Because of their “chill” nature, they can be run-over sometimes. However, because of their rational thinking and calm demeanor, they make good administrators.They can be passive aggressive.
The reason that my uncle even told me about this is because he said to someone else in the room “She is a Sanguine, just like me.That’s why I like her!”And it’s so true. If you knew me when I was younger, I was pure Sanguine. I am however a mixture of something odd. The fact that I graduated from college with excellent grades was out of passion and love alone.I had a passion for learning, for doing well, and I was never organized enough when I was younger to do well at all.I am good at something if I am interested, and if I am not…..you’ve never seen a bigger loser.
The older I have gotten, I hate being late.I plan and make lists almost obsessively.No, not almost……obsessively.I have to write something down to function, and I have to stay organized.I am not relaxed about it though.It’s like, I feel better being organized, but it stresses me out to even STAY that way, and according to my uncle, it’s because it really isn’t in my nature to be organized, on time, cautious, rational, relaxed…..none of those are my true qualities but I have to have them to lead my family.Really, if I didn’t have kids, I would probably be super unorganized, late, all of that.But if you know me now, I am never late.I am very structured, I like things a certain way.I don’t know.I can’t figure it out.I will say this…..the second that my kids are not with me and I have time to myself, I have no concept of time, I am all over the place, forget what I am doing, get distracted.
Knowing all of this has helped my aunt and uncle in their marriage because they realize that their differences are what attracts them to each other in the first place and also that their differences are what cause both friction and harmony.It’s the same with me and Don.Those of you who know us know that I never shut up, and you know that if Don speaks, you’d better listen because it’s going to be damn important and well thought out.He’s thoughtful in what he says, ponders often, he thinks things through.I am exactly the opposite.I seamlessly move from one topic to another and leave him in the dust, still pondering the first out of the 200 subjects I just discussed.My mom called me “her passion” when I was a little girl.But being passionate also involves being dramatic and emotional, and it’s the exact opposite of Don.It is good that we are different because it brings out things in him that would not be there, but it also has to be freaking annoying!His demeanor grounds me, helps me to be more rational, but I get frustrated that it’s so hard for me.He is my perfect match because what I am not, he is.And what I am, he isn’t.
I hope that you found this interesting.I have found that it helps to understand other people and it has helped to accept others for the way that they are.Accepting others for the way they are can be liberating and it can make you a better person.You can learn a lot from people who are by nature, different than you.
jointure \JOIN-cher\, noun:
Property given to a woman upon marriage, to be owned by her after her husband's death.
One of my friends is doing a bit of online dating and she occasionally sends me messages and pictures that she finds amusing. In fact, they are hysterical and I look forward to the next time some idiot contacts her. The fact that some of these people are still single isn't only not shocking in any way; it's a really good thing. She once sent me the profile of a guy who wrote "sex" under "interests". Wow. I think that this one, however, takes the cake. The message below has not been edited in any way, except I removed the dude's email address. Read this, but you may want to pee first:
"I am a very good looking and fit white Hispanic male that just wants an awesome great getaway weekend to sin city las vegas with a woman in her 20s. I don't expect anything from you except that you also enjoy fine dining, dancing, going to shows and having fun. Ill cover all expenses and would just cherish having someone with a zest for life that wants to live life for a weekend. I am a professional, disease free, 510 175 lbs and im not into drugs. There will be no strings attached from either one of us and as mentioned, all that I'm asking for is the pleasure of your company and your need to also have fun. To get us both comfortable we could first meet for a cup of coffee somewhere and also exchange pics. I just recently went through a big break up after many years and I want to go slow before jumping into a full blown relationship. If this message sparks your curiosity, My email address is....."
First of all, I told her to write the guy back and ask if the toe-tag at the city morgue would be included with dinner.Something tells me that liver and fava beans is on the menu.I also told her to hang onto this email address, in case women begin to disappear in the Vegas area.Really?Who would respond to this?It’s like a recipe for being hacked up into a million pieces!
Secondly, he’s essentially looking for a hooker.Not only is he weird, but he must be stupid! Doesn’t he know that prostitution is legal in Vegas?
People are just so clueless.How has stupidity become the number one epidemic in this country?Forget obesity.I would rather we were all fat than stupid.How does someone become so socially retarded that they even THINK of writing a message like this?
I woke up in a bad mood today and this really doesn't happen very often. I am usually that person who wakes up chattering and smiling, but I am very irritated this morning.
I make lists, I have cubbies, I have a dry-erase board, I have all of these tools around the house to help everyone know what they are supposed to be doing. (I should add that it is things like clean your room, pick up your shoes by the front door.....all things that are reasonable. Not things like "giving me a massage". They are all things that have to do with basic upkeep of themselves.) Anyway, if I wanted to shout "clean your room" ten times, I would just do so, I wouldn't bother with organizational tools, but I don't want to because then I am a nag and everyone gets irritated. Here's the interesting thing.....UNLESS I nag, they don't do what they are supposed to. Imagine that! So why do I bother having boards, lists, cubbies, if I am going to be the only one who is going to look at them? They aren't for me!
I told the kids "I am going to allow you to do your stuff at your leisure, and I will inspect it and make sure that you have done it, but it has to be done on Sunday, if not, I am going to have to step in." Ok, so yesterday I had to tell Logan to do his chores because the day was almost over. I don't even want to talk about the horrible, babyish fit that he threw and the smarting off that I got. He was like "I thought you weren't going to nag us anymore." I told him that I didn't want to, so it's his problem. It doesn't matter. No matter what I do, I am a nag, I am the bossy and annoying voice that everyone tries to tune out. How is that fair? Oh, and he originally lied to me and said that he had done them, so on top of NOT doing them, he lied about doing them. And he wants to know why I was mad?
What would happen if I just quit for a while? I'll give you an example. Every damn morning when I make lunches, guess what? The ice packs are at the bottom of the lunchboxes, warm. This morning I said "All three of you didn't bother to put your ice pack away, so I used the last two in Daddy and Logan's lunch, Lindsey, you don't get one." I asked if they just think that they will magically walk themselves into the freezer? Or maybe they just think that I will do it? So I guess if I were going on strike, I would just say "Sorry. Next time maybe your food won't suck at lunch time, because you won't be lazy and you'll actually take the two seconds to put the stupid thing into the freezer." Stupid things like that irritate me because when you add them up, I am only one person and can't be expected to do EVERYTHING and then NOT be angry when no one pulls their little, tiny load. I have a trillion things to do every second of the day, and usually while diffusing a temper tantrum or holding a toddler. I know what the answer is.....allow them to eat spoiled lunches and say "Sorry! Maybe you'll learn!" But apparently I am also the only one who worries about food safety. I know that I could have the attitude "Ohhhhh, no one brought the trash can to the road, again. I guess they'll learn once we're ear-deep in trash!" No thank you. I guess I could say "Oh, you couldn't find your book in that mess in your room? Because I haven't made you clean it? Oh, and now you'll get a zero and probably an F in the class? Sorry!" NO! I can't have that attitude. I care, and I can't pretend to not care. And the more slack that I give people, the LAZIER they get. I'm serious. The more I nag, the more stuff gets finished. Sounds like it isn't MY problem, if you ask me.
Another thing......this weekend, Lindsey went to a birthday party on Friday, Saturday I took her to dance and then Jamboree where I coached for her, then I took her to a movie and dinner. Yesterday, I asked her to do ONE extra thing not on her list, and she didn't do it. Don caught her watching TV instead. AND, if you read her blog, she said "Today wasn't fun because I cleaned (whatever, her room) and I didn't get to go to the birthday party." I didn't let her go to TWO birthday parties. Are you kidding me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I will say that Lindsey did her chores and she was good the rest of the day. I just got upset because when I asked her to do the one thing, I was setting up her BLOG! So again, doing something nice for her.
Why don't I do NOTHING, since what I do doesn't matter anyway? Please tell me I am not alone.
Here's the stinking Word of the Day, which has magically fit this entry:
polemic
\puh-LEM-ik\ , noun;
1.
A controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.
2.
A person who argues in opposition to another; controversialist.
I am so thankful for today because we don't have to shuffle the kids around from place to place. I am staying home, cleaning, and doing the laundry in my pajamas. I will probably go to the gym later, but that's it.
Yesterday was hot and miserable and I ended up with nausea and a headache, but it was fun and the kids did a great job. Logan got injured several times and continued playing; he refused to get out of the game.....coaches love that. He started on offense and defense. He played fullback, safety, cornerback, and left and right outside linebacker. The girls did a great job cheering, too. Below is a picture of Lindsey at the game, and then one from Chili's. I don't have any of Logan because I couldn't ever get him to stay still long enough for a picture.
Katie, Lexi, Lindsey, and Hannah
When we got home and showered, Lindsey and I decided to go on a date. We ate at Chili's and then we went to see "The Help". It was a very good adaptation of the book because the only things that they cut out or changed weren't crucial and didn't change the story. Actually, I thought that there were a few scenes that were better in the movie because of the slight changes made; it's pretty rare that I say that. I usually hate movies based on books because they are usually so different than the book. I cried at the end, Lindsey cried a few times; it was a good movie. It was also a great way for Lindsey to learn about the 60's. She didn't know about the KKK and JFK being killed, so it was a good way to get her interested in history.
No Word of the Day today, I think that I must have deleted it on accident.
Football season may not have officially started yet, but it definitely feels like it has. The Falcons played yesterday and it looks like we may be awesome this season! Carson thinks so too; he is wearing daddy's shirt in the picture above.
Jamboree is today and according to Weather.com, it's only 74 degrees right now. It looks like it's going to be cloudy pretty much all day and possibly storm around 4:00 this afternoon. We have to get there around 1:30 and we probably won't leave until 5:00. The high is only 88 degrees; I can deal with that.
I haven't gone in search of a weather report in like two years, but I figure I should be the adult today and prepare. I don't search for weather reports because honestly, it isn't going to change my plans, so what's the point? Also, I live in Georgia. It's either hot or cold these days, there is no in between. Lindsey asked me what the weather was going to be like a couple of days ago and I said "Don't ask me until October. It'll be 1,000 degrees until then." It's true!
I realize that it SHOULD affect my plans, but it just never does. Therefore, I never have an umbrella, I always wear the wrong shoes, and I always seem to wear jeans on a stormy day. Isn't that the worst thing ever? Your jeans are soaked up to your knees from splashing around in puddles? That always happens to me! If I do know what the forecast is, sadly, it usually comes from someone else's mouth during an uncomfortable silence. Either that, or a phone call from my grandma in Indiana. She always says "How are you in all of that bad weather down there? What are your plans?" I'm always like "Huh? There's a hurricane approaching?" Seriously. Remember back in May when I walked the kids to school for that walk-to-school event and on the way back I had to call my neighbor and have her pick me and the boys up? We jumped into the car and ditched my jogging stroller in the woods because the tornado siren was sounding. It was so scary. I also remember that about 6 months ago when we had that horrible ice-storm, I must have been the last to the grocery store because there was no food. I only went to the store because my mother-in-law told me to. She and my grandma are the only reason I ever know about the weather, and thankfully they always stress to me how severe a storm is when I blow it off. Thank God for people who realize that the weather can have an effect on your day. I'm a Sanguine. Sanguines don't care about the weather. (If you don't know what that is, you will. I am planning on writing a piece on the four personality types. It's awesome information.) One more thing.....have you ever gotten irritated with the weather people on the news? They're so excited about bad weather and it bugs me. A weather man in the middle of a hurricane is the equivalent of a pubescent boy about to have his first sexual experience. They're ridiculous camera-hogs for five minutes, smiling and eating it up. Barf.
Lindsey has choreography at the dance studio this morning from 10:30-11:15 and I will probably go to the gym around that time.
I hope that everyone has a fantastic Saturday!
Here's the Word of the Day. What's with the words being stupid lately? This is such a dumb word:
Yesterday was so much better than Wednesday. Lindsey had dance, but I cooked dinner while she was gone and I wasn't rushed to get her there or pick her up. I finished the hair bows for Jamboree, and I played "airplane" and "rocketship" with the boys last night. They love it. They choose which one, then they count (gotta throw some counting in) and then they either take off down the runway, or blast off into space. Dylan prefers the plane, Carson always shoots off in the rocketship because he loves to shout "Blast Off". They both love to crash, of course. You know the game....it's where you balance on your mom's feet in the air and then sometimes get a surge of courage and fling your arms out so they can be your "wings"? Even though it's severe discomfort on your vital organs, it's still awesome. Remember the game? Carson and Dylan don't like to take turns and occasionally try to "crash" the other one, but they have learned that they lose their turn if they do that. Sharing and taking turns has to be the most difficult thing we are learning right now. And I understand why! Taking turns and sharing sucks! I kid, I kid.
After we were finished playing "airplane and rocketship" we made brownies. (Don and Logan were outside playing football.) Lindsey put her apron on Carson because he wanted to help me. Here's a picture of him whacking around the wooden spoon (without batter, thankfully.) He poured the ingredients into the bowl and stirred for me.
While the brownies were baking, we read some books and Lindsey played on the computer. After we read books, we took our time getting ready for bed. I appreciated the calm evening as opposed the chaotic disaster that was the night before. And the brownies were delicious!
Here's a picture of the hair bows:
Here's the Word of the Day, and I hate this word and you'll never catch me using it. The definition is disgusting:
mundify \MUHN-duh-fahy\, verb:
To purge or purify.
By the way, I have been singing "Rocket Man" since last night. It's stuck in my head and I can't get it out! Good thing it's an awesome song! And I think it's gonna be a long, long time til touch down brings me round again to find I'm not the man they think I am at home, OH no, oh no, I'm a Rocket Man! Elton is awesome. Sometimes when I can't think of any lullabies to sing to the boys or I get tired of singing "Baby Mine", I sing a little Elton John. My kids know all of the old stuff....it's cool.
