....

Sometimes I just dont know what to write about. It's 8am, I have about 5 minutes before my daughter finishes breakfast and then I will not be able to sit down again until her naptime. But today I have to finish the Mars ILL newsletter my husband and I send out each month, and address all the envelopes, so no blogging at naptime today.

Naptime has always been a safe haven for me. It's my chance to be alone, to have some quiet, to do something for ME. I thank God for naps! As they dwindle away, (a baby starts out sleeping most of the day, then three naps, two naps, and, around a year or a year and a half, one nap a day. Soon this little blessing of quiet will end too...) I am preparing myself for the day I no longer have this alone time. Usually I have to use this time to accomplish something big like the newsletter, running an errand, cleaning the house, etc. Twice I have actually exercised during naptime, but then I have to "get ready for the day" again after I finish, (you know what I mean girls, it is hard enough getting ready once a day with kids!) so I havent tried it again recently. Sometimes I sleep, especially if she has been sick and nights have been tough. I know this is a treat that I wont get to have forever, so if I feel like sleeping I do.

What's funny is if naptime doesnt go according to plan, I find myself freaking out a bit. Ive gotten better about it, but when you are looking so forward to this time alone, and then your child decides to thwart your plan, it can make you crazy! I realize a lot of the time it isnt her fault. Trying to push 26 teeth thru uncut gums sounds terrible, and being incapable of blowing your stuffy nose has got to be annoying. But with just a few precious hours to myself each day, I get a little selfish sometimes and just cant accept a measely thirty minutes.

And just as I thought, breakfast has ended and so have these few precious minutes of blog time.

nonsense

There are some things that will never make sense to me. You know, no matter how long and hard you think about them something just doesnt click...doesnt mesh. Here are a few things I have a hard time wrapping my brain around these days:

1. Sleeveless turtlenecks
2. Lil' Kim
3."buffalo" chicken
4. Catholic schoolgirls' skirts
5. Fear Factor
6. raisins in cookies
7. the Grammy awards Tsunami tribute
8. Ellen and Portia
9. a "successful" song about Thong underwear
10. Arrested Development cant make it but Yes, Dear can...

humble pie

This past weekend we couldnt decide what to do so we finally chose to drive to the mall and get my hubby a new pair of jeans. He is really into the Levi's loose/straight 569's and we have been several places looking for them. They are sold at most department stores, but we cant ever find his exact pair. Either the color isnt right, or they dont have his size, or the length is wrong. So we set out on our mission to find his perfect pair of jeans.

We went to a mall that has three or four department stores attached, Rich's/Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Dillards. Due to parking we ended up closest to Nordstrom and although I doubted we'd find em there, we went in. To set the scene, I was dressed in jeans, a turtleneck, and a little blazer, my husband had on his Levi's and an insideout t-shirt. Earlier he had had a shirt on over it but it had gotten hot and he decided to leave it in the car. The girl, well, she was dressed like a typical toddler.

As we headed toward the Young Men's department we were stopped in our tracks by a 50 something year old man, very distinguished looking (and working hard to appear so) who asked if we needed help. Usually we avoid help, it is one of those agreed upon things you know as a couple when you go into the store, but for some reason Nate started giving him the details of our visit. Here is what transpired.

"Umm, we're here looking for some jeans, do you have any Levi's?"
"Levi's? No, your best bet is going to be WALMART." (Excuse ME? WALMART? Nate and I were taken aback. Now granted, we dont exactly look like Nordstrom shoppers, Nate with his scraggly beard, his saggy jeans with ripped heels, me with my partially thrift store bought outfit....but to say we needed to head over to Walmart for Levi's was just a plain old low blow.)

"Well," said Nate, "actually we got these at Rich's, is there a Rich's in the mall?" (later when I bugged him about asking one store where their competitor was located he explained that this was his dig back at the guy.)

"Yes," said the guy, "but Walmart is your best bet for Levi's." (AGAIN with the Walmart!) "They have the most variety, straight leg, boot cut, lots of choices."

"Alright, well we're going to head over to Rich's first," said Nate just trying to save us more humiliation.

So we humbly exit the store only to come out into the mall and realize it was closing. DRAT! It was Sunday and like every good American knows the mall closes early on Sundays. So we had to go back thru Nordstrom to get to our car. And had to pass the uppity Nordstrom guy on the way.

And where did we head? Yep, right over to Walmart. The whole way we kept saying "They dont have Levi's at Walmart! What does he know?!" Because honestly, we do go to Walmart, and you better believe if they had Nate's jeans there we would have been all over them. But, because the mall was closed, and we were feeling so insulted and broke down, we headed right on over there like sheep being lead to the slaughter just like the old guy had thought we should do.

And, when we got there, just as we'd suspected, there were no Levis!

"caught you lookin"

The other day my husband and I were at a stoplight and cars going the other direction were making their way thru the intersection. A "pimped out" truck began to approach and it had some big letters across the front window. I squinted to try and catch it all before the truck passed by and this is what it said: "CAUGHT YOU LOOKIN'" complete with the accent mark next to the "n".

Now maybe he does catch a lot of people lookin, but unfortunately I dont think its for the reasons he hopes. I mean, who doesnt notice 15 huge letters across the front window of a car? I guess I could put some big red letters across the front of my shirt that read "caught you lookin'!" but I guarantee it isnt for any reason other than a bunch of big red letters across my front side. I could also put them on my forehead, but again, any big red letters across the front of anything are going to get some stares, naw I meen?

I still havent figured out the "words on cars" obsession. The "NO FEAR" on a little rinky dink sports car with a monster size spoiler as if the little thing is going to catch air while flying down the highway at 65mph. I actually kind of like the latino vato writing of last names across the back windows of vans, trucks and even sports cars, however, I think the airbrushing has gotten a little out of hand. Then there are the sister creations to the word stickers. The Calvin and Hobbes characters. The Ford/Chevy thing has baffled me from the beginning, then Calvin is kneeling at the cross repenting of his sin of fighting over car makes (is this really necessary?) But a funny one we heard about thru a friend was Calvin "doing his thing" on the words " NON-HUNTERS"....is this the representation of our society we want to send out into the world?

*(this post has been edited --I got the joke wrong the first time...)

Top 5's

Top 5 "BOOOOOO!" moments of today:

5. Showing up late to church.
4. Having a "Superbowl Party" with a bag of chips, me, my husband, and his titanium laptop (in other words, the Superbowl is on, he's got his headphones on working on beats, Im over here at the table blogging...)
3. My daughter getting her finger stuck in the shopping cart at Target and having to force it out of the hole with her crying hysterically.
2. On the way home from the store, having an argument in the car with my husband when suddenly my daughter begins mimicking my yelling. (That's one way to shut me up!)
1. Trying to salvage our day by going to the park to feed the ducks. Our box of stale Honey Nut Cheerios falls into the pond and floats away, we spend 10 minutes trying to fish it out of the pond with a huge stick much to the amusement of other park-goers. Eventually watching it sink to the bottom of the pond.

Twenty things

Here are twenty things you might not know about me. (Sorry if any overlap the first 100+ I wrote earlier, but who has time to double check that kind of stuff?)

1. I have a nervous quality about pleasing people.
2. In jr high I thought about changing my first name by either shortening it to a nickname, or going by my middle name. The ironic thing is now my brother-in-law calls me by the funny little nickname I was going to create for myself! (thank heaven it hasnt caught on with the rest of the family.)
3. Like the story about the pen, I save the most ridiculous things in case they might be useful later on, like all the twisty-ties that come on bread or other bags, or magazines (large numbers of them), or socks that have no partner!
4. Along those same lines, I wont throw away toothpaste, salad dressings, shampoo, ketchup, etc until every last drop is out of that container. I know this is not necessary, but for some reason I must use every ounce of it.
5. I am quite melancholy, although on the outside most people (other than family) probably see me as outgoing and assume I am happy.
6. It is easy for me to be an aquaintance but difficult for me to make true friends.
7. I have a lot of fears...they probably keep me from accomplishing a lot of what I could accomplish without them. (Fear of me or daughter being kidnapped (and everything that goes along with it) fear of getting sick, fear of traveling with the baby, fear of abandonment, fear of flying, fear of exercise (just kidding.)
8. I am quite stingy with money (although I dont mind hitting the thrift store every now and then.) I think this comes from not having much money to be loose with! It's pretty easy to be stingy when there isnt much to spend!
9. I have trust issues in all shapes and sizes.
10. I think actors and singers get too many awards for the jobs they do. Is it me or are they creating more award events each year. Pretty soon they will have an awards show for all the entertainers who got the most awards that year to see who deserves the "most awards" award.
11. I think most people would describe me as conservative in an all inclusive sort of way (clothes, hair, to bed early, fear of staying out late (ha!) speech, morals. What's funny is that I know it's true, but because I am also so quirky about things I see myself as outside the realm of normal (what I consider conservative.)
12. This year I have learned that "this is life." When things go haywire and get out of control I usually freak and ask "why me, why now?" But this past year I finally got it. This is the rollercoaster of life. Enjoy the calm, easy times, and realize in the midst of the storm that the pleasant times will come again.
13. I hate putting on freshly washed jeans.
14. I have always wanted to be fluent in Spanish.
15. I now realize what parents and other "older" people meant when they told me to enjoy my youth. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days of stress equaling not being invited to a slumber party or paying for things meant deciding which 10cent candies you had to decide between.
16. Ive begun to get gray hairs....this is quite interesting considering both of my parents started going gray in their mid-thirties.
17. I try to be very thankful for all I have. My husband is a gift from God, and so is my daughter. I have family I love, a warm place to sleep at night, food to eat, and clothes to wear. I have chairs to sit on, a car to get me where I need to go. Is there really much else we need to have?
18. I love summer. Not hot-hot summer, but the nice weather, being outdoors, eating outside, feeling warm.
19. There's a lot I need to work on. I am very aware that there are things in my life that continually need to be evaluated and taken to God. After all, that is what this life is, preparation for heaven. We are given these lives to get right, to know God and become what we were created to be. That makes the highs and lows more of a training ground than a whirlwind.
20. I want to be a better person. I want to be more patient and kind, more joyful and loving. Less stressed and frustrated. I want to be at peace, to be gentle, faithful and good. Self-controlled. these are the fruit of the Spirit and they are what I hope to be.

Arrgh!

So Saturday night I am in the middle of telling you all about my new blog when ...what?...the power goes out. Yep, the crazy ice storm had arrived and though we had made it all day with branches crashing around us at 10:10 pm EST the lights went out in Georgia. (well, in my neighborhood anyway.) Then around 10:30pm as I sat in bed with a flashlight trying to read two huge branches cracked and fell to the ground right outside my window taking down our power, phone, and cable/internet lines with them (and scaring the living daylights out of me by the way.) Of course these things only happen when my husband is out of town.

After crying hysterically and then praying without ceasing I decided the only thing I could do is go to bed. The heat was off w/o the power, so it would only be a matter of time before our girl would wake up freezing and then that would be the end of sleep for me. Around 3:30 she was up and crying and freezing, (trying keeping covers on a 2 year old) so as a last result I had to bring her to bed with me. She fell back asleep, but I couldnt--trees and branches were falling all around the neighborhood and I was scared to death!

We headed off to church at 7:30 the next morning because it was warm and they usually serve breakfast before the 9:15 service. Unfortunately breakfast was cancelled due to the storm, so we went to IHOP instead, then back to church. After a long morning we got home around 12 and I put her in about 10 layers of clothing and stuck her in her crib to see if she could sleep...amazingly she did (seems neither of us got much rest the night before.)

At 2:30 I was awakened by the arrival of my brother-in-law sent to check on me by my very angry/worried sick husband who had been unable to reach me. I was told I needed to call him immediately, so I used my b-in-l cell and let him know I was alive. After a passionate (i.e. harsh/scathing/loving/tearful/ "stop yelling at me"/"i thought you were dead") call he arrived home to find me shivering on the couch. Lux and I were sent out to our friends house for the night while he stayed in town to finish the DS5 album and artwork.

We arrived home Monday to power, but no phone or cable/internet. It was so good to be home! Then today just as the phone guy left, the cable guy pulled in and, well, here I am! Forget dinner, forget spending time as a family....I need to blog!


Anyhoo, my "other blog" has begun. I had just finished the first post when the power went out. Not sure if it's the best blog to start with but I found it funny, and I think others with children will relate somehow. It is called "Hopscotch Honey" or can be reached at http://hopscotchhoney.blogspot.com. Check it out, but I'll be here too. I'll be back again soon!