What the Beach Test Says About You |
 You like people, but you're careful about who you get close to. Friendship is important to you... so important that you aren't just friends with anyone. You don't fall in love easily. It takes you a long time to get used to someone. Intimacy doesn't come easily for you. You are an amazingly passionate person. You are passionate about almost everything, and your passion definitely gets you in trouble! Your sense of humor is intellectual and obscure. Only really well educated people get your jokes. |
Monday, June 30, 2008
Lovin' The MeMe's
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Saying Thank you
Have you heard of the Gratitude Campaign? If not, watch this short clip - I'm sure you will be as moved as I am. It's such a simple thing to say thanks. And like the clip points out, it's not about politics...it's about gratitude for the sacrifices others are making on our behalf.
I do not support the war. I do, however, support the troops. I know people have said you can't support one without supporting the other but I disagree.
So thank you. Thank you to the men and women serving this country and than you to the families and friends of those people. Thank you thank you thank you.
And hopefully soon, very soon, we can see an end to the war and instead see great homecomings. It's time.
I do not support the war. I do, however, support the troops. I know people have said you can't support one without supporting the other but I disagree.
So thank you. Thank you to the men and women serving this country and than you to the families and friends of those people. Thank you thank you thank you.
And hopefully soon, very soon, we can see an end to the war and instead see great homecomings. It's time.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Where Did May Go?
Weird. I could have sworn it was just the first week of May and now well...now it's June already. I see that I actually still have people coming by here on a daily/weekly basis. I imagine you have all been bored outta your ever-lovin' minds with the whole "no new post" thing. I also imagine a few people have zapped me from their bookmarked blogs. I know I would have by now. Sheeesh.
As it turns out - keeping up with two blogs on top of everything else in my life is a lot. A pipe dream, some might say.... and I might be one of them. :)
I have to say that the lack of sunshine has made life feel gloomy and downright "wintery". I feel like this has been the longest winter EVER! It's June and I am still sending my son off to school in a winter coat. Call me weird but I don't recall that we had so many dark, gloomy and depressing days in May and June of years gone by. I've heard some folks disagree but I'm here to tell you that my outlook sucks and I totally blame the weather.
I keep trying to tell myself that the sunshine is just waiting for my son to be out of school for the summer and then it will show itself. You know - since it wouldn't be nice for his sister and I to be out playing in the kiddie pool while he is sweating away inside a non-air conditioned school. The weather is merely being polite, right? Yeah - I'm not buying it either. I WANT SUN!!!!!!
I swear I'm going to develop rickets from a lack of vitamin D. If you see me start to hunch over, you'll know why. :)
My son only has another 7 days of kindergarten (well - 7 days plus 2 hours but who's counting?). I'm not at all sure how that happened. It feels like I was just leaving him on that first day - the tears that fell from him broke my heart that day. I wish I could say that school turned out to be a great experience for both him and me but honestly, it hasn't so much been. He has learned tons of new things, don't get me wrong but thrive? No, he didn't so much thrive. He endured. He got through. He is above grade level in everything and I know he has learned what he should but he was never thrilled about going, he never looked forward to it. He went without too much complaint but he was always happiest on the days when there was no school.
His school was ok. And I do mean just "ok". We've filed the papers to see if we can get a boundary exception to another school. All the fears I held from the open house forward were right on even though "others" said I was out of my mind. That one plus one couldn't possibly equal two. Well guess what? I was so right on that I could kick myself for not following my gut instinct to transfer him that very first week.
Lesson learned though - I will never again just assume that all schools in a district are equal. I will never again assume that just because it's your neighborhood school that your child should attend said school. I will do more research. I won't blindly trust again. I never should have but being new to the whole "my child is in school" thing I had no idea what to do, look for or act upon. It's very much like leaving the hospital with a newborn...you have *no idea* what is ahead of you. None. At all.
Oy. That was a lot to just dump out there. Who knows - maybe I'll be back before July arrives. Wouldn't that be nice? :) :) Thanks for sticking with me.
As it turns out - keeping up with two blogs on top of everything else in my life is a lot. A pipe dream, some might say.... and I might be one of them. :)
I have to say that the lack of sunshine has made life feel gloomy and downright "wintery". I feel like this has been the longest winter EVER! It's June and I am still sending my son off to school in a winter coat. Call me weird but I don't recall that we had so many dark, gloomy and depressing days in May and June of years gone by. I've heard some folks disagree but I'm here to tell you that my outlook sucks and I totally blame the weather.
I keep trying to tell myself that the sunshine is just waiting for my son to be out of school for the summer and then it will show itself. You know - since it wouldn't be nice for his sister and I to be out playing in the kiddie pool while he is sweating away inside a non-air conditioned school. The weather is merely being polite, right? Yeah - I'm not buying it either. I WANT SUN!!!!!!
I swear I'm going to develop rickets from a lack of vitamin D. If you see me start to hunch over, you'll know why. :)
My son only has another 7 days of kindergarten (well - 7 days plus 2 hours but who's counting?). I'm not at all sure how that happened. It feels like I was just leaving him on that first day - the tears that fell from him broke my heart that day. I wish I could say that school turned out to be a great experience for both him and me but honestly, it hasn't so much been. He has learned tons of new things, don't get me wrong but thrive? No, he didn't so much thrive. He endured. He got through. He is above grade level in everything and I know he has learned what he should but he was never thrilled about going, he never looked forward to it. He went without too much complaint but he was always happiest on the days when there was no school.
His school was ok. And I do mean just "ok". We've filed the papers to see if we can get a boundary exception to another school. All the fears I held from the open house forward were right on even though "others" said I was out of my mind. That one plus one couldn't possibly equal two. Well guess what? I was so right on that I could kick myself for not following my gut instinct to transfer him that very first week.
Lesson learned though - I will never again just assume that all schools in a district are equal. I will never again assume that just because it's your neighborhood school that your child should attend said school. I will do more research. I won't blindly trust again. I never should have but being new to the whole "my child is in school" thing I had no idea what to do, look for or act upon. It's very much like leaving the hospital with a newborn...you have *no idea* what is ahead of you. None. At all.
Oy. That was a lot to just dump out there. Who knows - maybe I'll be back before July arrives. Wouldn't that be nice? :) :) Thanks for sticking with me.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Clean Carpets
I cleaned my carpets today. It took me 2 hours and I'm sure that if I did them again tomorrow I would pull an equal amount of muck from them but they are so much better than they were.
We had been cleaning them. Frequently. But apparently our now previous carpet cleaner sucked. Or rather, didn't. We would put the water and cleaning solution into the carpet but we pulled precious little back into the dirty water chamber. It recently got to the point where we were running the carpet cleaner every other week and it still didn't feel any cleaner. The Agility may be lightweight and compact but that's about it as far as gold star performance.
So....I decided to go by a cleaner like the one we had about a year and a half ago. Bissell Pro Heat. I loved our last one but we worked that sucker hard for a few years and it started developing problems. Imagine my delight when I went into a discount place last week and saw a Pro Heat for $90. Sure, it's not the lastest, greatest model but it would do the job! And do it it did!!
WOW! The mucky, muddy water I pulled up (and so much of it was pulled back into the dirty water chamber! YAY!) was so rewarding. I would like to run it again soon to see about removing some more yuck but for now - I'm pretty happy.
And now I have an Agility cleaner to find a new home for. Any takers? It does a real craptastic job. :)
We had been cleaning them. Frequently. But apparently our now previous carpet cleaner sucked. Or rather, didn't. We would put the water and cleaning solution into the carpet but we pulled precious little back into the dirty water chamber. It recently got to the point where we were running the carpet cleaner every other week and it still didn't feel any cleaner. The Agility may be lightweight and compact but that's about it as far as gold star performance.
So....I decided to go by a cleaner like the one we had about a year and a half ago. Bissell Pro Heat. I loved our last one but we worked that sucker hard for a few years and it started developing problems. Imagine my delight when I went into a discount place last week and saw a Pro Heat for $90. Sure, it's not the lastest, greatest model but it would do the job! And do it it did!!
WOW! The mucky, muddy water I pulled up (and so much of it was pulled back into the dirty water chamber! YAY!) was so rewarding. I would like to run it again soon to see about removing some more yuck but for now - I'm pretty happy.
And now I have an Agility cleaner to find a new home for. Any takers? It does a real craptastic job. :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Etiquette Faux Pas
In my lifetime to date, and I'm sure in years to come, I have made (and will make) many faux pas when it comes to etiquette. After all, how many of us are perfect? Well - there is Miss. Manners but honestly, I bet she wasn't always so perfect. :)
Once, when my daughter was eight months old, my son was 3.5 years and Dakota had just began evening law school I was invited to dinner at the home of a mom in my moms club. I was in the throes of PPD and I was a mess. I finally accepted her offer for dinner because I genuinely liked her - even though, quite honestly, she intimidated me. She was so worldly and well-read. She had an impressive career that she was eager to get back to, lived in a gigantic and beautiful house, etc.
We enjoyed a dinner that she made for us after making an entire kid-friendly meal for the little one(hers and mine) and I had a really nice evening.
I always meant to invite her over to my house for dinner. Honestly, I did. I knew it was the right thing to do and it would be fun - even if my world was nothing near as grand as hers. Dinner wouldn't be anything fancy because I don't cook very well at all and would never think to force someone, not related to me, to eat anything that I might be able to come up with (kid meals I can do but nothing adult-centered. That was always Dakota's thing - she is a great cook!). But....as time does, it got away from me.
I was struggling so, so, so hard to keep things together while it literally felt like things were coming apart at the seams. Things spun out of control there for a while and I just never did put the invite out there. Mostly I was just trying to keep my head above water (and mostly failing to do that) and the thought of entertaining and keeping things together during the evening hours was completely beyond my reach.
So...time went by. By the time I could breathe again it felt like way too much time had passed and we no longer really saw each other since she had returned to work and was rarely at the weekly moms group. (To be fair, I was hardly there either.)
Our relationship, when we did run into each other, was always friendly and never strained. Eventually, I let go of the "I need to do this" pressure I had on myself.
But - I still feel guilty for not responding in kind with a dinner invitation. And I hope that she forgives me. And I hope someday I can let go of feeling guilty about it.
I appreciate the rules of etiquette, for the most part. But sometimes I think we all need to forgive ourselves and each other for indiscretions we all make along the way.
Once, when my daughter was eight months old, my son was 3.5 years and Dakota had just began evening law school I was invited to dinner at the home of a mom in my moms club. I was in the throes of PPD and I was a mess. I finally accepted her offer for dinner because I genuinely liked her - even though, quite honestly, she intimidated me. She was so worldly and well-read. She had an impressive career that she was eager to get back to, lived in a gigantic and beautiful house, etc.
We enjoyed a dinner that she made for us after making an entire kid-friendly meal for the little one(hers and mine) and I had a really nice evening.
I always meant to invite her over to my house for dinner. Honestly, I did. I knew it was the right thing to do and it would be fun - even if my world was nothing near as grand as hers. Dinner wouldn't be anything fancy because I don't cook very well at all and would never think to force someone, not related to me, to eat anything that I might be able to come up with (kid meals I can do but nothing adult-centered. That was always Dakota's thing - she is a great cook!). But....as time does, it got away from me.
I was struggling so, so, so hard to keep things together while it literally felt like things were coming apart at the seams. Things spun out of control there for a while and I just never did put the invite out there. Mostly I was just trying to keep my head above water (and mostly failing to do that) and the thought of entertaining and keeping things together during the evening hours was completely beyond my reach.
So...time went by. By the time I could breathe again it felt like way too much time had passed and we no longer really saw each other since she had returned to work and was rarely at the weekly moms group. (To be fair, I was hardly there either.)
Our relationship, when we did run into each other, was always friendly and never strained. Eventually, I let go of the "I need to do this" pressure I had on myself.
But - I still feel guilty for not responding in kind with a dinner invitation. And I hope that she forgives me. And I hope someday I can let go of feeling guilty about it.
I appreciate the rules of etiquette, for the most part. But sometimes I think we all need to forgive ourselves and each other for indiscretions we all make along the way.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Well Deserved Break
Yesterday I had a well deserved and much needed break from the kids. I love my kids more than anything but just like every one in the world, sometimes you still need to get away for a while.
It's rare that I have the opportunity for a break and truth be told, I actually had two over the course of the weekend. Saturday night the kids were doing their usual "kid stuff" at the end of the day - they were both tired and everything was pushing their buttons and setting them off and, as a result, they were pushing my buttons and setting me off. (Funny how that happens, right? :) )
While cleaning up the dinner dishes with Dakota something set off both kids at once (different things and different issues but lucky for us, both at the same time). Good heavens - I thought I was going to come completely unglued. To say it had been a long two weeks with both kids being sick, etc. is an understatement.
I looked at Dakota and said something like "I. Cannot. Take. This. For. Another. Minute." She looked at me and said "Why don't you take off for an hour or so - just bring back something good for dessert for us for later." :)
I quickly kissed the squalling off-spring, grabbed my purse (yes, I carry one. I had to give in after having kids because there is just so much stuff to lug from place to place to place), my keys and cell phone, kissed Dakota, uttered my undying gratitude and out the door I flew.
But where to go. Hmmmmmmmmm. I ended up at Fred Meyer (a One-Stop Shopping type place) and rambled around aimlessly. I didn't need anything (except dessert. I must remember dessert.) and since it's not like money grows on trees I wasn't going to just buy for the sake of buying so I felt a little lost. I found swimming suits (I do need a new one but alas, I can't find anything that "suits" me. LOL!) and ended up taking a photo on the cell phone to send my to brother's girlfriend. She and I had looked at suits together a few weeks back and had a good time making fun of most of the ones we saw (Did you know they have one that looks like a Twister game. Seriously? Wow.) so I knew she would love the one I saw that night. It was Hello Kitty suit with a big ol' outline of the kitty herself on the top. Ummmmm....ok? Maybe I'm old but I found that somewhat disturbing.
I decided I just had to show you so I just sent it to myself in email. Here it is:
I know, right? Wow. Sign me up - I think I need to get one of those puppies. *rolling my eyes*
Anyway - so I had a nice hour to myself on Saturday and then yesterday was one of the kids cousin's 7th birthday party and I just didn't want to go. The thought of two glorious hours to myself was way, way, WAY more appealing and thankfully Dakota was fine with taking the kids and going without me. After they left the house was so quiet. Really, really quiet. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I read for a little while and then decided to take a trip to Ikea. The store is not quite a year old and we have been there once though lately I've been trying to get back there to check out a few things. It has just never worked out with the kids and whatnot. So, I jumped into the car and drove the 20 minutes to the store. Since it was late afternoon parking was easy. I was in and out of the store in less than 40 minutes - empty handed. Which was fine. They didn't have what I was looking for and since I didn't need anything else, it was easy to walk through and keep moving. I still want to get back there with Dakota because I think it would be fun to look at things together. We have to go without the kids though - they were a bit challenging to herd through there and I'm not sure the play place would be a good option for them. Maybe the next time we have a date night we can go there and check things out together. I know. Exciting but hey - at least we would be together. :)
So there you have it. Three hours of kid-free, alone time in one weekend. I do believe that is the largest slice of "me time" I've had in ....well.....probably all school year. Maybe longer.
I suck at getting "me time" because I feel pulled in so many different directions. I'm alone with the kids most of the time so when Dakota is around I usually want family time since we have so little of it. Yes, I could take off more often when Dakota is home on Sunday but then I miss the only time we have together all week. It's tough because it's a choice I just don't want to make. Family time, because there is so little of it, wins (almost) every time.
This is the last week of classes for Dakota and then it's two more weeks until her last final for the year. Summer time is coming which means more family time and more chances for breaks and date nights. YAY!!!
It's rare that I have the opportunity for a break and truth be told, I actually had two over the course of the weekend. Saturday night the kids were doing their usual "kid stuff" at the end of the day - they were both tired and everything was pushing their buttons and setting them off and, as a result, they were pushing my buttons and setting me off. (Funny how that happens, right? :) )
While cleaning up the dinner dishes with Dakota something set off both kids at once (different things and different issues but lucky for us, both at the same time). Good heavens - I thought I was going to come completely unglued. To say it had been a long two weeks with both kids being sick, etc. is an understatement.
I looked at Dakota and said something like "I. Cannot. Take. This. For. Another. Minute." She looked at me and said "Why don't you take off for an hour or so - just bring back something good for dessert for us for later." :)
I quickly kissed the squalling off-spring, grabbed my purse (yes, I carry one. I had to give in after having kids because there is just so much stuff to lug from place to place to place), my keys and cell phone, kissed Dakota, uttered my undying gratitude and out the door I flew.
But where to go. Hmmmmmmmmm. I ended up at Fred Meyer (a One-Stop Shopping type place) and rambled around aimlessly. I didn't need anything (except dessert. I must remember dessert.) and since it's not like money grows on trees I wasn't going to just buy for the sake of buying so I felt a little lost. I found swimming suits (I do need a new one but alas, I can't find anything that "suits" me. LOL!) and ended up taking a photo on the cell phone to send my to brother's girlfriend. She and I had looked at suits together a few weeks back and had a good time making fun of most of the ones we saw (Did you know they have one that looks like a Twister game. Seriously? Wow.) so I knew she would love the one I saw that night. It was Hello Kitty suit with a big ol' outline of the kitty herself on the top. Ummmmm....ok? Maybe I'm old but I found that somewhat disturbing.
I decided I just had to show you so I just sent it to myself in email. Here it is:
I know, right? Wow. Sign me up - I think I need to get one of those puppies. *rolling my eyes*
Anyway - so I had a nice hour to myself on Saturday and then yesterday was one of the kids cousin's 7th birthday party and I just didn't want to go. The thought of two glorious hours to myself was way, way, WAY more appealing and thankfully Dakota was fine with taking the kids and going without me. After they left the house was so quiet. Really, really quiet. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I read for a little while and then decided to take a trip to Ikea. The store is not quite a year old and we have been there once though lately I've been trying to get back there to check out a few things. It has just never worked out with the kids and whatnot. So, I jumped into the car and drove the 20 minutes to the store. Since it was late afternoon parking was easy. I was in and out of the store in less than 40 minutes - empty handed. Which was fine. They didn't have what I was looking for and since I didn't need anything else, it was easy to walk through and keep moving. I still want to get back there with Dakota because I think it would be fun to look at things together. We have to go without the kids though - they were a bit challenging to herd through there and I'm not sure the play place would be a good option for them. Maybe the next time we have a date night we can go there and check things out together. I know. Exciting but hey - at least we would be together. :)
So there you have it. Three hours of kid-free, alone time in one weekend. I do believe that is the largest slice of "me time" I've had in ....well.....probably all school year. Maybe longer.
I suck at getting "me time" because I feel pulled in so many different directions. I'm alone with the kids most of the time so when Dakota is around I usually want family time since we have so little of it. Yes, I could take off more often when Dakota is home on Sunday but then I miss the only time we have together all week. It's tough because it's a choice I just don't want to make. Family time, because there is so little of it, wins (almost) every time.
This is the last week of classes for Dakota and then it's two more weeks until her last final for the year. Summer time is coming which means more family time and more chances for breaks and date nights. YAY!!!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Blech
Sick kids for one week and one day. Not that I'm counting.....oh who am I kidding? Of course I'm counting! Would it be better to have them sick at the exact same time or is this the preferred method; one sick, then better then the other sick? I'm not sure but from where I sit today I'm thinking at the same time would be better. Either way I'm losing sleep but at the same time would mean it would not be extended over a two week span.
I love my house but I'm ready to venture into the real world now. Staying here 24/7 (with short trips to drop off and pick up school aged child) only brings into focus how much needs to be done. I can usually ignore the fact that the walls could really use a fresh coat of paint but frankly, when you stare at them for NINE days, it becomes more than obvious. Same thing goes for the grout around the sinks. They really need to be redone. And the kitchen window sill? It really needs to be scrubbed with a toothbrush.
Two days ago, while in a lull of the full blown sickness, I scrubbed out the washer (specifically where the soap, etc. goes. It's a front loader and it can get rather nasty in there.) and spent over an hour scrubbing the kitchen sink and surrounding area. And kick in the pants on the sink part is - it doesn't look much different than before I started. Guess it wasn't that awful to start with. *sigh* But at least I *know* it's clean.
I'm just saying.
It's time for the kids to be healthy now. And to stay healthy. Otherwise, goodness knows what else I will find that needs to be cleaned. :)
I love my house but I'm ready to venture into the real world now. Staying here 24/7 (with short trips to drop off and pick up school aged child) only brings into focus how much needs to be done. I can usually ignore the fact that the walls could really use a fresh coat of paint but frankly, when you stare at them for NINE days, it becomes more than obvious. Same thing goes for the grout around the sinks. They really need to be redone. And the kitchen window sill? It really needs to be scrubbed with a toothbrush.
Two days ago, while in a lull of the full blown sickness, I scrubbed out the washer (specifically where the soap, etc. goes. It's a front loader and it can get rather nasty in there.) and spent over an hour scrubbing the kitchen sink and surrounding area. And kick in the pants on the sink part is - it doesn't look much different than before I started. Guess it wasn't that awful to start with. *sigh* But at least I *know* it's clean.
I'm just saying.
It's time for the kids to be healthy now. And to stay healthy. Otherwise, goodness knows what else I will find that needs to be cleaned. :)
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