No Loving Here

I can't remember if I have ever mentioned that as a family we struggle with traditions of our own. The Rocket Scientist had a very different version of the same holidays than I did growing up. Though, we don't argue about it, we haven't really set many traditions of our own.

One tradition we have managed to set is our Sunday night. We gather as a family and watch Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. Either the Rocket Scientist will make popcorn or I will make something else to snack on and we watch this show. I love this time. The kids will usually cuddle with us on the couch and we get to watch something of value. It is honestly about the only TV I get to see in a week.

Well Sunday night, the Wild Child announces in a very disgruntled voice, "I hate this show. It is just about loving and taking care of people and houses!" The RS and I did a double take and stifled our giggles. I think it actually comes down to she doesn't like to see me cry, but whatever. She got over it and was sitting next to me by the time they were taking down the old house.

After every episode, we talk about what we can do as a family to make this world a better place. The kids have some interesting ideas, but we will save that for another post.

Happy Easter with some of my favorite's

By Del Parson

Have you ever noticed that most children when shown a picture of Christ know who it is almost every time. Well unless your grandma dates a man with a beard and your great-grandma has a dog that looks like a lamb. When my nephew Michael was little, like four-ish, his mother showed him a picture, similar to the one above. Michael's grandma dates a man named Jim, who has a very neatly trimmed beard. Jim is a very nice and attractive man who is very much family. Michael's great-grandma had a little, fluffy, curly haired dog named Boodrow. When four year old Michael was shown said picture and asked who it was, he replied, "That's Jim and Boodrow."

I know that there are rules about using others work on your blog, so I hope I am following protocol. I have linked all the pictures back to where you can learn more about the artist and/or purchase their work if you feel so inclined. These are some of my favorites and Easter seemed like the appropriate day to share them. I am partial to those that depict Christ with children. They evoke feelings of reverence, love and peace for me. Feeling that are far to absent in the world.

Do you have a favorite? I would love to see it. Send me a link......

Art by Greg Olsen

Art by Greg Olsen

Art by Liz Lemon Swindle

Art by Del Parson

Art by Del Parson

Art by Simon Dewey

Happy Easter.

Shopping for a Chandelier with the Wild Child

You really have no idea how much fun it is to shop for a new light fixture with the Wild Child. We went to Lowes to replace the chandelier in out kitchen. The old one was plenty nice, just too small for the room.

When we get there, I go over the the oiled bronze, wrought iron and/or brown fixtures since that is what everything else in the house is. The Wild Child tells me she does not like these lights because they look old and broken to her. So I ask her what she does like. She shows me this and others like it:

Though I think this light is gorgeous, it is just not going to work in my kitchen eating space.

There was much debate over three different lights that I liked. I let the Wild Child give her input as to which one she liked and why. This the is the one we chose:

The Wild Child liked it because of the "pineapple." When we get home later that night, I tell the Rocket Scientist that I bought the new light and needed him to install it. Then the Wild Child proceeds to tell her dad, "We bought the one with pineapple on it that looks like a disco ball." Anyone feel like dancing?

Lay me off....

Yesterday there were lay-offs in my husbands company. I can't help but think about those families who now are wondering what is next for them. Up until yesterday morning, I feared a lay-off like any other SAHM. Somehow yesterday morning after many sleepless hours because of an unwanted dream, I came to terms with a lay-off. In fact, I wanted it. It would mean a new adventure. A new start. It wasn't us though. I am afraid that it was another family craving the security a job brings. Funny how life is always throwing you curve balls.

My bloggy friend Nancy, who is almost my neighbor as of a few months back, so eloquently said what I am feeling, though, they are her feelings. We must be drinking the same water.

Ohh.....I have issues.

Yes, you read the title right. I have issues. They may be related to not having enough sleep or to how stressful today was, but either way, I feel like trouble.

I, like so many others these days, have gotten sucked into the Facebook world. I tried to resist for a long time, but so much of my family was there, I gave in so I could keep in touch. Before I knew it I had 108 friends. Some of them old boyfriends. This really is no problem...other than on days like today when I am just not right. Let me be clear, I am just looking to torment them, strictly for my amusement. You know, like send them a dozen or so nominations for "most lovable person" or better yet, how about a 250,000 "kidnap'd" request. Trust me, these are people who have no time for such silly applications. I have no ill or romantic feelings for these guys. None. I'm just in that mood that doesn't say much for what kind of person I am. I want to be amused and that would so entertain me.

Ahhh, never mind, I've got a Rocket Scientist here that I can torment instead. I wonder how he feels about watching chick flicks till 4:00AM?

You all have a good night.

Dreams of a Crazy Woman

Thank you friends for all the well wishes. The Rocket Scientist is back at work. The 1st One is back to school. The Wild Child has bronchitis, but is now on the mend and My Son and the Little Jamaican, it is believed by the doctor that, they have allergies. So things are looking up around here.

When the alarm went off this morning the first thought in my head was something left over from a dream. Not a pleasant dream, not really a nightmare either. It was just enough to make me question taking Benadryl before bed. The thoughts going through my head when I awoke were these: "It is so sad that Mick Romney is dead." I need to disclose that I know no one named Mick, not a Romney or other wise. So as I am trying to get conscious I realize this and wonder if something happened to Mitt Romney. Fortunately after scanning the news for 10 minutes, it would appear that the previous presidential hopeful is just fine.

There have been other times that in a dream my Rocket Scientist has done something unsavory and I have awakened very angry with him. Why is that? I know that it was just a dream, though, I am still furious with him. Poor guy, he has to pay for what my mind makes up at night.

Then there is the dream I had when we were still somewhat newly-weds. The Rocket Scientist's mom had passed away in November and his dad decided that a family ski vacation to Mammoth was in order. So in January, we joined his family on said ski trip. We all stayed in a condo in the area. The second level of this condo was a loft that was open to below. There were two queen size beds up there. So the RS and I took one bed and the RS's younger brother and the love of his life took the other. Below in the family room, my FIL slept on the couch and a couple of the RS's older brother's kids slept in sleeping bags on the floor. I am dreaming away one of those nights about having to make it to my best friend's wedding and that I can not get the Rocket Scientist off the mountain so that I can go get ready. I continue to plead my case. As the dream goes on, the RS is now driving me to the wedding and even though there is still time for me to shower, he is ignoring my requests. I become more persistent that I want to take a shower. I begin repeating over and over again, "I want to take a shower! I want to take a shower! I want to take a shower!" In my dream, I get louder and louder as it seems that my demands are falling on deaf ears. It wasn't long after that I was awakened to my husband trying to quiet my yells, my SIL snickering, and my BIL telling me to take a shower then. Fortunately, I woke no one below. To make this story complete, I need to say that, yes, I was mad at the RS all day long that day. Yes, I was allowed a shower, but I was already ticked, though not his fault.

My question to you now is, do others pay for what you dream about?

Looking for the Health Fairy

There is some junk in the air over here. The Rocket Scientist has Walking Pneumonia, the Sea Monkeys are coughing and stuffy and honestly, I am still not right. If there is a Health Fairy for our family, I'm thinking that she's vacationing in Bermuda.

So anyone out there have any home remedies they swear by when they or their kids get sick? What about prevention? You have something that works well? Please share......We are thinking of buying stock in in Kleenex.

Malibu and Weddings....

Did I ever mention that the Rocket Scientist and I lived in California when we were newlyweds? We lived in the Los Angeles area in the sun and smog. There were so many things I loved about living there. The food, the ocean, the sunsets, the palm trees, the public transportation that I knew like the back of my hand, the Central and South American cultures melting into North American culture, and the ocean breeze.

This past weekend, the Rocket Scientist and I had the pleasure of being apart of our dear friend Kevin's wedding celebration. The Rocket Scientist met Kevin while going to school. I can hardly believe it's been more than 13 years since we left Southern California. For all the places we visited while we lived there, we never once made it to Malibu. I assumed it looked like the rest of the area. I should have known better. Our friend Kevin and his lovely bride were married in Malibu over looking the ocean on Saturday. It was beautiful. Some how that word does not seem to be enough to describe the setting or the wedding. The canyons in the area, I am told are reminiscent of Hawaii, bright green hills only to be broken up by the soft blue/grey of the ocean. The groom so happy I thought he would spontaneously combust and enough love in the air to fill the ocean.

Congratulations Kevin and Angelique! May your years be filled with as much beauty and love as your wedding day.

Have you met Lucky?

I'm still not up to par....and I have a flight to catch in the morning. I am wondering to myself, how bad is that going to hurt? Ugh.......I would give you my left toe to breathe out of my right nostril. Really I would. You wouldn't want my toe though, nor could you grant me clear sinuses, so this is a pointless and rather disgusting paragraph. In fact you are now wondering to yourself if I have lost it. Maybe you think my fever got to high or I took the wrong meds........

Anyway, I have some quick things to share and a promise to catch up with your blogs next week. On St. Patrick's Day this week, I woke to find this:

This got me to thinking about leprechauns. My friend Wendy knows a leprechaun named Lucky that manages to sneak into her house every year on St. Patrick's Day and causes some mischief. You know, turn furniture up side down, hang underwear from ceiling fans, leaves green "L's" on her kids foreheads, leaves green pee on the toilet seat; I know I must be forgetting a few things, but you get the point right? Well, each of my children has a certain amount of Irish in them. In fact I am the lone soul without any Irish heritage in the house. Honestly, I look at these photos and I see leprechauns. Yes, they are in their night clothes, if that is what you are asking. It was only 11:00 AM and a lovely 60 F. Some were serving snow as lunch, some were trying to kill "mosquitoes" with a snow shovel and others just in it for the adventure.

Do you have leprechauns? Or is this an isolated case?

Stuck in the Mud....

So that pretty much describes how I feel. Yesterday, I thought I might be having a mid-life crisis, but by noon, I knew it was just Strep. As soon as those antibiotics kick in, I have some funny stuff for you. But today, I'm just going to lay here and pretend the world stopped because I did.

What's a Girl To Wear?

This morning I sent the Little Jamaican in to get herself dressed. This can be quite confusing when you are four years old. Then you add that it has warmed up just enough that all the Sea Monkeys think that Spring has sprung.This causes some serious wardrobe confusion. It is a bit chilly, a bit warm and plenty of mud to tromp through.She had just gotten dressed and I had not done her hair yet.......and she had developed a case of the sillies.I have no idea why, but when she does, it always ends up with a shot of her back side.
I hope you have a wonderfully warm weekend.

Things heard around here today.....

I was calling the clinic today to dispute what was mine and what was my insurance's responsibility when I had to step into my pantry so the poor woman on the other end of the line could hear me. The Sea Monkeys were being extra loud and there was no quieting them. As I stepped into the pantry, I started to tell the woman that I felt like "Old Mother Hubbard" when I realized in my tired and noise induced stupor, I had confused my nursery rhymes. I had to correct myself and tell her I meant thatI felt like the "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe."

The First One was in the shower when I heard her ask me to come help her. When I got there she asked me, "Will you move the shower runner?" It took me a minute, but I figured out she wanted the shower head adjusted.

The Wild Child talking to her dad on the phone asks if she can wear his shirt to bed because he is out of town. That is one of the Sea Monkeys' very favorite things to do when their dad is away on travel.

When offered chocolate milk today, My Son tells me, "I don't eat this."

I would quote the Little Jamaican today, but it's been nothing but tired sass that doesn't make me smile or entertain me in the slightest.

Counting the seconds till the Rocket Scientist is home. It's just not as much fun without him.

(Sorry about the sap. It happens when I'm tired.)

Questions Answered and an Interview....

First to clear up who "TROY" is: He is the main male character in Disney's High School Musical. Troy's real life name is Zac Efron. He is cute, so I can see why the Wild Child has a thing for him.

Last week, one of my new bloggy friends was kind enough to interview me. She is the Antiques Diva and she is darling. See........

I have been curious about antiques for a long time, but know nothing and I mean nothing about them. I have learned more about antiques and foreign places in the past month than I have managed to gather in the past, um, 29 years of my life. Thank you, my new friend. You are both entertaining and educational.

Interview Follows:

Antiques Diva: If you could LIVE any place in the world where would it be and why?

I would love to live everywhere. Trying to pick one place is like trying to pick your favorite piece of chocolate. Paris, Prague, Oslo, Copenhagen, Alabama, Idaho, Washington DC, New York City, Iceland, New Zealand, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Lake Tahoe, you get the point, right?

Antiques Diva: Describe your perfect day

This makes me think of the movie Miss Congeniality. You know when Stan, the pagent host asks Cheryl Frazier aka: Miss Rhode Island, "Describe your perfect date." To which she replies, "That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th, because it's not too hot and not too cold. All you need is a light jacket."

My perfect day would constitute having a house keeper and French pastry chef on staff. That would be followed up by hiring a personal trainer so I could eat the pastry without guilt. A perfect day would also include time sleeping in the sun, playing with my kids and quiet dinner out, alone with the Rocket Scientist.

Antiques Diva: If you could only live with one accessory for the rest of your life, which would it be and why? Only one item!

I am a little embarrassed about how sappy this answer is going to sound, but it is the truth. It would be my wedding ring. We were married 14 years before the Rocket Scientist bought me a ring. In his defense, he had tried to buy one before, but I insisted I wanted a home more than a ring. (We were getting ready to move at the time.) When we were first married we were broke, so he wore his dad's old wedding band and I wore my mom's old wedding band. Anyway, this particular accessory is a reminder that I am the luckiest, most blessed woman on the planet.

Antiques Diva: Why do you blog and which blog/s inspire you most?

I blog for many reasons, but the biggest reason I blog is to take the time to find the joy and humor in my life. Somehow when I start to type, I find the humor in the feathers knee deep all over the bedroom floor or the strength to face neighbors again after this. Another reason is the friends I have made and the ease in keeping in touch. It sort of makes the miles and time disappear.

There are many blogs that inspire me. I love having a glimpse into other people's heads and worlds. It makes me feel normal and unique all at the same time. It is safe to say that if I read your blog, you inspire me. There are many other blogs I do not have listed down the side that inspire me as well. I am thankful for the opportunity you have given me to be a part of your life by putting your thoughts out there to be shared.

Antiques Diva: If you had to choose a flavor of ice cream that most fits your personality, what kind do you think you would you be?

This one is easy, Neapolitan. I am a little bit of everything. Meaning just that. I'm a little bit red neck, a little bit class, a little bit of something else I can't quite put my finger on. I guess I could be Spumoni just as easily.

There are a few of you out there I would love to interview, but I will let you volunteer. So here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment on the “Interview Me” blog. (Meaning this one.)

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. Be sure you link back to the original post.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Things prayed for...

You see the socks the Wild Child is wearing? She got those for her birthday. Did I mention she LOVES Troy? Yes, she has told me this herself and then asked me not to tell her dad. I didn't have to, her sister told her dad right in front of her.

So she decides to wear the new socks to bed. Doesn't she look cute in her new PJ's and "Troy" socks?

I am listening to the 1st One say her prayers when I hear her say, "And please bless that (insert Wild Child's name here) won't wake up in the middle of the night and start kissing her socks." Oh how I love little girl crushes. They are just so cute. Now, if I can just keep them having crushes on fictitious characters, I will be in business.

What is she really saying?

This morning as we are driving down the road, the Wild Child says to me, "Mom, When you and Dad die, (the there is a long pause) I want the house and..................... Squig (the cat) and .............Penny (the dog) and........................ Bow-Legged-Lou (deceased cat) and Sabrina (deceased dog.)

What's a mom to say about all of that? I don't even know where to start. Um, the house, ya, well I think that is uh, you know I need to put together a will or a trust or something.

She made it to 6

I remember so well everything leading up to the Wild Child's birth. I remember the move right before she was born from Utah to Kansas. I remember the morning she was born. The way her soft little skin felt against my cheek. I remember the brave face her birth mom put on, but how I could feel her heart break.

From the first moment I held the baby Wild Child, I knew I would be more than her mom. I knew that as she grew we would also be good friends. Now that she has just turned six, I am wondering how she survived that long. For example: She was behind this incident and this one and this one. Then there is her love of "free gum." You know, it's free because somebody else has already discarded it and put it under the table or dropped it on the side walk. Yummy-huh? Well, that is nothing when you consider that she has sampled toilet water at Shopko. Honestly, this kid could survive a biological attack. Her immune system is well practiced.

So here are some pictures of her over the past six years that make my heart ache to have a few of those moments back and a few that make me realize there is still much fun to be had ahead.

Happy Birthday, Wild Child! I love you more than you will know until you have children of your own. Thank you for making my life fun and interesting. Most of all thank you for letting me be your mom!

Bill Cosby on the brain....

Today, I spent four hours in a dentist chair. It was delightful. Really.....You know that my dentists has massage chairs to sit in while they work in your mouth? Yes, it wasn't so bad.

So this keeps going through my mind while I am there.


The Wild Child had a birthday this week. So I am planning this weekend to do her birthday post. Oh the blogging fodder that comes on birthdays.

I survived.......sort of....

That post-op appointment I was so dreading, is finally over. You know the one. I arrive on time and so of course, this means that the doctor is running behind. I am almost having a panic attack because I know I have to meet with this doctor to go over lab results and what the next steps are for the insanity that I have decided to undertake. Minutes tick by and I have to remind myself to breathe. Oh the stress. Finally, his cute little nurse comes to get me. For once I don't mind stepping on the scale. It is at least something to take my mind off of what can only be the second most embarrassing moments of my life. We get back to the exam room, she takes my vitals and asks why I am so nervous. I look her in the eye and ask, "Did you hear what I called Him?" She looks confused for a minute and then starts to laugh.

"So you are the one who gave him that name." She's still laughing.

After about half a second the doctor walks in. I can't even bring myself to look up. Then he says something and I am required to make eye contact or be rude. The man is chuckling. He says to me, "You know, I have a funny job. Just the nature of what I do can be funny. But that is the funniest thing I have ever heard."

Turns out the hospital staff now call him VW. He thinks the new name has elevated him to a new level of respect. He's writing a book and using the name. "The Va..na Whisperer, Tales of a Utah Gynecologist." When you see it hit the book stands, you will know who he is.

So, ya, all that and I have decided that I may try some infertility treatments to continue the torture. Somebody, please tell me......what am I thinking?

Birthday wishes!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. Really. Today is the day my sister-in-law, who might as well be just my sister, other than my brother married her and that would be gross, joined this world. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICOLE!!!! You know I love you, like you are my sister.

Nicole is the person who introduced me to blogs and what they are all about. I can never thank her enough for that. Nicole has a very funny, off beat, sense of humor that I have come to need a weekly dose of. She has three beautiful, funny rugrats, that keep her busy. If you have a minute, please stop in a tell her Happy Birthday.

Not addicted!

My neighbor across the street, told me this tale of her 2 year old son. This son we will call Ryan to protect his innocence.

You see Ryan woke yesterday morning requesting chocolate with a certain amount of persistence. There was a bit of a tantrum involved. When it was explained that there was no chocolate around to be had, my two year old friend insisted there was some in his pocket. When this failed to produce the desired out come, he thought maybe there was some in someone else's pocket. (I want pockets like that. Chocolate in them whenever the whim hits.)

After some time, Ryan's dad was able to calm him down. His Dad had him seated to eat some cold cereal when one of his parents mentioned, "You have a problem buddy. You are addicted."

Sweet Ryan's response, "I'M NOT ADDICTED!" and then followed by a whispered, "I'm not addicted."

Ryan, my little buddy, I'm not addicted either, but if you need a fix, I live across the street. I can hook you up.