It is the last day of NaBloPoMo, the last day of November. I can't believe we are already this far along in the year and so close to Christmas. I am still neck deep in editing and orders and deliveries, and I still need to get my own family photos made and a holiday card designed, ordered and sent out. I already feel like I am behind the game and December 25th is looming ever closer over my head.
I wish I could muster some happy happy today, but to be perfectly honest I am pretty stressed out and feeling blue. I'm not sure what has come over me. The boys were being whiny (though they are playing together really well right now) and it is just adding to my stress and frustration.
I am feeling very stifled lately. I'm not sure how to describe it, other than that. I feel like I have so much to say and I can't say it. I feel like I can't be myself right now and I really want to. I am so busy, and it is a good thing for sure, but the weight of my responsibilities is sort of crushing my spirit at the moment. I am sure it is only temporary, but it hurts nonetheless. I feel like I can't breathe sometimes.
It is that horrible feeling that makes one daydream of packing a bag and running away for a while. Shoot, sometimes I don't even want to pack. I want to be irresponsible and grab a credit card and just have some fun. I want to make everything right for once - fix all that is broken and replace all that needs replacing.
I want to free myself, if only for a little while, of the things that keep me tied to my office chair. I am sure I will get some sort of break toward the end of the month, but the urge to run is very strong right now.
I need to figure a way to get the words in my head out of there. They are making me crazy.
Thankfully I can now safely listen to Christmas music without too much ridicule so I do have some relief. The songs remind me of no particular person, event or stage in my life like most do, but only of happiness and family and God. I have had Frank, Bing, Elvis and others in my ears all day and it is wonderful.
Until Port runs up to me and screams, "Mummai, no SINGING!"
Where was that suitcase?
Until,
D :)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Collide
I was adding a few things to my Amazon wish list this morning (it is Cyber Monday afterall!) and I decided to fill out the little info box on a few of the items, just to help people who might be shopping for me this Christmas. Most of the stuff on my list is strictly for ideas - not necessarily the exact items I want should someone be so inclined to make a purchase.
Anyway, a couple of the things were pretty basic. Some of the things on there are for the boys, so my comments were general. Then I filled out the comments on some of my things. And I noticed that all of my comments went something like, "mine broke/fell apart/wore out so I need another one". How sad. lol!
I guess I am dealing with a lot of broken things right now. Stuff, people, hearts...sometimes it is all overwhelming. And today I am feeling the weight, especially in the people and hearts category. There is so much sadness in this world. Every day there are people out there that do good deeds that go unnoticed, or worse it seems it's all for naught. But I have to keep reminding myself that there is good in everything. Even if the outcome seems bad, somewhere along the way lives were affected, people changed, memories made. And when sad things happen I have to look beyond the immediate and search for the bigger meaning in it all.
We are all broken. We are all messed up in one way or another. And life is a constant battle between doing the good that is naturally in our hearts and giving in to the also naturally occurring anger, the sin and the defeat that we face in so many aspects of our lives. When bad things happen we want to give up, give in and stop doing the good. Because it seems so pointless sometimes. But you just never know how your actions affect the world. Life is much bigger than all of us. I firmly believe that good brings about good, always.
As I am writing this, Howie Day is playing on Pandora - the song is Collide. The lyrics identified by my brain, cutting through all the noise in there...
Across the room, across the state, the country or even the world - we are connected in ways we may never understand.
Until,
D :)
And just because the song is really pretty, I'll post it if you want to listen.
Anyway, a couple of the things were pretty basic. Some of the things on there are for the boys, so my comments were general. Then I filled out the comments on some of my things. And I noticed that all of my comments went something like, "mine broke/fell apart/wore out so I need another one". How sad. lol!
I guess I am dealing with a lot of broken things right now. Stuff, people, hearts...sometimes it is all overwhelming. And today I am feeling the weight, especially in the people and hearts category. There is so much sadness in this world. Every day there are people out there that do good deeds that go unnoticed, or worse it seems it's all for naught. But I have to keep reminding myself that there is good in everything. Even if the outcome seems bad, somewhere along the way lives were affected, people changed, memories made. And when sad things happen I have to look beyond the immediate and search for the bigger meaning in it all.
We are all broken. We are all messed up in one way or another. And life is a constant battle between doing the good that is naturally in our hearts and giving in to the also naturally occurring anger, the sin and the defeat that we face in so many aspects of our lives. When bad things happen we want to give up, give in and stop doing the good. Because it seems so pointless sometimes. But you just never know how your actions affect the world. Life is much bigger than all of us. I firmly believe that good brings about good, always.
As I am writing this, Howie Day is playing on Pandora - the song is Collide. The lyrics identified by my brain, cutting through all the noise in there...
Even the best fall down sometimesWhen taken completely out of context of the song as a whole, it kind of illustrates my point. And that is, no matter the good we do, the effort we put in or how successful our efforts seem, sometimes bad things happen. Things that don't make sense suddenly are the truth. And even if it shakes you and tears your world apart, in a bigger way that we may not even understand, the good has still been done. And in that good, we collide.
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide
Across the room, across the state, the country or even the world - we are connected in ways we may never understand.
Until,
D :)
And just because the song is really pretty, I'll post it if you want to listen.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Show
Only 3 more days left of NaBloPoMo and maybe then I can get back to posting something a bit more interesting. The good thing about this, I guess, is that is has me "writing" every day, even if it is only for 5 minutes just before midnight.
I had an amazing newborn session this morning! The baby boy was 15 days old and super sweet. He let us maneuver him every which way for a good hour and a half before he got hungry or even showed the slightest signs of annoyance. He didn't want to do every pose we tried, but he did most of them pretty well.
I was absolutely amazed at how well the boys played together for the rest of the afternoon today. They got along so well! They spent a good part of the afternoon running in and out of the house, making up all these silly games. Then Kiddo decided that they were going to put on a "show" for Hubby and I. So after dinner (in the pitch blackness of the back yard) Kiddo drug us out on the back porch and they did their performance. It was so cute - it mostly consisted of Kiddo running around and making things up while Port copied everything he did. It was pretty cute! Kiddo had set up a bunch of "obstacles" that he ran around and jumped on a few times, and then he played some sort of frisbee game then he ended the whole show with a song and dance number. We were cracking up the whole time. When he finished the song, Port took over and started singing the theme song from the Cat in the Hat show on PBS. That was hilarious!
It's probably going to be a rough morning after we drop Kiddo off at school. Hopefully the readjustment to our normal schedule won't be too hard on the little guy.
Until,
D :)
I had an amazing newborn session this morning! The baby boy was 15 days old and super sweet. He let us maneuver him every which way for a good hour and a half before he got hungry or even showed the slightest signs of annoyance. He didn't want to do every pose we tried, but he did most of them pretty well.
I was absolutely amazed at how well the boys played together for the rest of the afternoon today. They got along so well! They spent a good part of the afternoon running in and out of the house, making up all these silly games. Then Kiddo decided that they were going to put on a "show" for Hubby and I. So after dinner (in the pitch blackness of the back yard) Kiddo drug us out on the back porch and they did their performance. It was so cute - it mostly consisted of Kiddo running around and making things up while Port copied everything he did. It was pretty cute! Kiddo had set up a bunch of "obstacles" that he ran around and jumped on a few times, and then he played some sort of frisbee game then he ended the whole show with a song and dance number. We were cracking up the whole time. When he finished the song, Port took over and started singing the theme song from the Cat in the Hat show on PBS. That was hilarious!
It's probably going to be a rough morning after we drop Kiddo off at school. Hopefully the readjustment to our normal schedule won't be too hard on the little guy.
Until,
D :)
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Bring Me To Life
{beautiful sky, shot with my iPhone, somewhere outside of Crowley, Louisiana}
I am sitting here tonight eating some banana pudding. This is a fantastic recipe! I usually just make banana pudding with nilla wafers, bananas and well, pudding. I never would have thought to add anything to that. But holy moly, adding cream cheese?!?! Genius!
Anyway, we came home today after a very long 4 day trip and I am just flat out exhausted. I had to make banana pudding tonight because I accidentally left a huge bunch of bananas here instead of taking them on the trip like I had planned. Port eats bananas a lot - they are one of the few things he will eat on a regular basis so I try to keep some in the house at all times. I left the bananas and the other fruit I bought for him (grapes and apples) here and when we got back today the whole bunch was on the verge of being too ripe. My freezer is already full of over ripe bananas that I will someday use for banana bread, but I didn't want to toss these in there too so I made the pudding. So yummy!
It was fun visiting with the family but I am so glad to be home. I don't much care for living out of a suitcase (or in this case a duffel bag. I don't own a suitcase!). Tomorrow I get to spend the better part of my morning with a beautiful newborn boy as I am doing a newborn session. I am so excited! I also have another newborn session in Dallas coming up sometime in the next week or so.
Some day I will have a chance to sit down and breathe. I am thinking it will be sometime around February.
Until,
D :)
Mental Jukebox Selection today: Evanescence, Bring Me To Life. I can't get this one out of my head today.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Flash
Tonight Hubby and I had the opportunity to get out by ourselves for a little bit. We headed down to the local mall and took a short walk in the freezing cold. Then we ended up at the Cheesecake Factory afterward for something warm to drink and yummy to eat. I was checking my Facebook on my phone and saw that there was a recent flash mob on 6th street. Hubby didn't know what a flash mob was, so I looked up a couple of YouTube videos for him to watch.
I thought you all might be interested as well, so I linked up a video below. I think they are so cool and would love to see one in person.
Enjoy!
Until,
D :)
Glee Flash Mob in Seattle.
I thought you all might be interested as well, so I linked up a video below. I think they are so cool and would love to see one in person.
Enjoy!
Until,
D :)
Glee Flash Mob in Seattle.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thankful
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Today we took a 4+ hour drive to visit family in southern Louisiana. Hubby rode in a car with my inlaws and my brother in law, and my sister in law, my boys and the dog rode with me. The drive over was nice - I got to spend some good quality time talking with my sis-in-law, and it was a refreshing change from traveling with the Hubby. I am sure the other car with the inlaws was alive with conversation as well. We arrived at our destination, and after a quick check in with our hosts, we ventured down the road to visit for a bit with Hubby's grandmother. She was in pretty good humor, but didn't want to come have lunch with the family.
While most of the adults were visiting, Happy (the kids' grandfather) and I took the boys out front to the pond to feed the ducks, turtles and fish that reside there.
(yes, Port's pants are way too big)
They went through half that box of Goldfish, though I suspect Happy ate his fare share too! ;-)
We made it back to our cousin's house for lunch. Of course, the food was great. After a few hours visit we got back on the road to come home. Hubby rode with the boys and I on the way back. We actually drove into a cold front and at one point and watched the temperature gage drop 9 degrees instantly. Over the next 30 minutes it dropped continuously for a total of 27 degrees. It was crazy how quickly it dropped.
Overall I missed my mom's cooking and seeing that side of the family, but it was still a great day.
I hope you all had a wonderful, food and family filled day as well.
Until,
D :)
Today we took a 4+ hour drive to visit family in southern Louisiana. Hubby rode in a car with my inlaws and my brother in law, and my sister in law, my boys and the dog rode with me. The drive over was nice - I got to spend some good quality time talking with my sis-in-law, and it was a refreshing change from traveling with the Hubby. I am sure the other car with the inlaws was alive with conversation as well. We arrived at our destination, and after a quick check in with our hosts, we ventured down the road to visit for a bit with Hubby's grandmother. She was in pretty good humor, but didn't want to come have lunch with the family.
While most of the adults were visiting, Happy (the kids' grandfather) and I took the boys out front to the pond to feed the ducks, turtles and fish that reside there.
They went through half that box of Goldfish, though I suspect Happy ate his fare share too! ;-)
We made it back to our cousin's house for lunch. Of course, the food was great. After a few hours visit we got back on the road to come home. Hubby rode with the boys and I on the way back. We actually drove into a cold front and at one point and watched the temperature gage drop 9 degrees instantly. Over the next 30 minutes it dropped continuously for a total of 27 degrees. It was crazy how quickly it dropped.
Overall I missed my mom's cooking and seeing that side of the family, but it was still a great day.
I hope you all had a wonderful, food and family filled day as well.
Until,
D :)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Blessings
I know, I know, yesterday's post was total weirdness. It is a prime example of the times I have a much bigger idea in my head, and I just can't condense it down small enough to get it out of there in some sort of logical fashion.
So I don't know if today will be much better. I just have so much swirling around in there that I don't really know what to blog about. And with it being Thanksgiving and all the stress, travel, planning and reflection that involves, I am left in a very strange mental state; a balancing act between trying to be present and in the moment and still deal with the gravity of life and relationships and everything else that is brought to the forefront this time of year.
I am so thankful for so many things. We are blessed in an immeasurable number of ways, and I simply am in complete awe that we are so fortunate. I know I complain a lot, but you have to know that deep down I can see the bigger picture. I know how lucky I am and how much worse it could be. I still live an amazing life. I have a wonderful family, the best job I could ever hope for and so many unbelievably wonderful friends who are perfect for me in so many ways.
My friends. I don't know how I would survive without them.
It's funny, I have friends that I talk to every day, others that I converse with a few times a month, and others that I only interact with a few times a year. And they are all so special to me, each in their own way. What I find so amazing is that no matter which friend I am with and no matter what situation I am in, that friend always knows the exact right thing to say.
I thank God for my friends. I love you all.
Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! May your tummy, your glass and your heart be full!
Until,
D :)
So I don't know if today will be much better. I just have so much swirling around in there that I don't really know what to blog about. And with it being Thanksgiving and all the stress, travel, planning and reflection that involves, I am left in a very strange mental state; a balancing act between trying to be present and in the moment and still deal with the gravity of life and relationships and everything else that is brought to the forefront this time of year.
I am so thankful for so many things. We are blessed in an immeasurable number of ways, and I simply am in complete awe that we are so fortunate. I know I complain a lot, but you have to know that deep down I can see the bigger picture. I know how lucky I am and how much worse it could be. I still live an amazing life. I have a wonderful family, the best job I could ever hope for and so many unbelievably wonderful friends who are perfect for me in so many ways.
My friends. I don't know how I would survive without them.
It's funny, I have friends that I talk to every day, others that I converse with a few times a month, and others that I only interact with a few times a year. And they are all so special to me, each in their own way. What I find so amazing is that no matter which friend I am with and no matter what situation I am in, that friend always knows the exact right thing to say.
I thank God for my friends. I love you all.
Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! May your tummy, your glass and your heart be full!
Until,
D :)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Right Now
Another post where I don't make any sense. Forgive me.
Time is a funny thing.
We may follow a clock, a watch or the display on our phones, but we are never really on the same time with each other. Because we each live in our own present, we, in many ways, anticipate what others will think and feel and do once they catch up with our thoughts and our actions.
We write a letter or address something as simple as a Christmas card, and instantly we are in the future. We envision the recipient receiving it and we see in our minds their reaction. We can see it clear as day; the opening of the letter or the email, gazing at the picture on the card we picked out and we can see the smile on someone's face. Or their tears. Or their anger.
But until it actually happens it isn't reality.
Living in the moment is so hard. We plan for the future, we plot our next move, we look forward and prepare for things to come. And meanwhile someone else is living in the same time as you, doing similar things and their reality may or may not include you without you ever knowing it. It can be confusing and difficult when those realities collide.
In such a technology based world we are in better sync than ever. And yet in some ways I think it is worse because we can get ahead of ourselves. We've taken the surprise out of surprises - the "heads up" is the way to communicate and keep everyone in the know. Sometimes something very special and endearing about life is lost in this "instant communication" world.
While I am so thankful for technology and instant information, I occasionally wish I didn't have such quick access to certain things.
Until,
D
Time is a funny thing.
We may follow a clock, a watch or the display on our phones, but we are never really on the same time with each other. Because we each live in our own present, we, in many ways, anticipate what others will think and feel and do once they catch up with our thoughts and our actions.
We write a letter or address something as simple as a Christmas card, and instantly we are in the future. We envision the recipient receiving it and we see in our minds their reaction. We can see it clear as day; the opening of the letter or the email, gazing at the picture on the card we picked out and we can see the smile on someone's face. Or their tears. Or their anger.
But until it actually happens it isn't reality.
Living in the moment is so hard. We plan for the future, we plot our next move, we look forward and prepare for things to come. And meanwhile someone else is living in the same time as you, doing similar things and their reality may or may not include you without you ever knowing it. It can be confusing and difficult when those realities collide.
In such a technology based world we are in better sync than ever. And yet in some ways I think it is worse because we can get ahead of ourselves. We've taken the surprise out of surprises - the "heads up" is the way to communicate and keep everyone in the know. Sometimes something very special and endearing about life is lost in this "instant communication" world.
While I am so thankful for technology and instant information, I occasionally wish I didn't have such quick access to certain things.
Until,
D
Monday, November 22, 2010
Break
Um, yeah. Ok.
So, I know I complain a lot, but I really don't like to. It's just sometimes things are easier to deal with if I can share my feelings with others. Most of the time I find someone who has been there before that can sympathize with me or at least say, "Hey, I've been there. It will get better." or even "Hey, I've been there and it sucked." It makes me feel better to know I am not alone.
Ok, so maybe I do like to complain.
But I try not to complain all the time. At least I try not to whine about things. But today, man today I feel so bad for my Hubby. And for our situation right now. And just in general.
I have mentioned a few times how everything seems to be breaking around here. The washer is now possessed - working just fine sometimes and refusing to agitate at others. I haven't a clue what is going on with that thing.
I came home from my awesome weekend to find that the door handle on our microwave spontaneously broke. It basically has pulled away from the door and bowed out, making it very difficult to open and shut the door. The good thing is we actually have 2 microwaves in the kitchen, and another in the closet that we don't use, but the one that broke is the one above the stove and not exactly something that is easy to remove and replace. And, it is the one I use all the time because it is at *my eye level and I can see everything in it better. I don't like the other one. But beggars can't be choosers I suppose.
Something I haven't mentioned here is that it is very likely that my husband will lose his job at the end of the year. I can't really go into details because nothing is official, but that seems to be the way things are headed and so we are trying to prepare for the inevitable. The housing market as we all know, really, really stinks right now, and since he is in that field it is pretty unlikely that he will be able to secure employment elsewhere any time soon. So, we are preparing for him to start working on his own, and are trying to secure the things he needs to do that effectively. We purchased a new desktop computer and are setting up our spare room as an office just for him. Otherwise, we are on a spending freeze until...well, probably forever.
whee!
But then today happened - oh JOY! Hubby went for a bike ride and was attacked by a dog while he was riding the trail. The dog (a vicious black lab, by the way *eyeroll*) bit his ankle pretty good; he's got three puncture holes.
Hubby had the dog owner text her information to him on his phone (which was back in the car) and he thought everything was fine...until he got back to the car.
The car had been broken into. The passenger side window was smashed and his phone and a portable radio were gone. Thankfully they didn't find his wallet, which was also in the car, and they left his very expensive bike wheels in the back. The glove box had been ransacked - not sure what they were looking for, but they certainly made a mess doing it (now that I think about it, they were probably looking for the wallet).
Sooooooooo - we had insurance on the phone, but the deductible was still $50 (for them to replace it with a different, poorly rated phone) and the window is going to cost about $90 to replace. I probably don't need to mention how much we can't afford this. grrr
If these things happen in threes, then how many are we up to now? I am pretty sure it's more than 3.
Tonight we recorded our weekly Musing Mommies podcast, and of course, this episode was about the things we are thankful for. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to come up with some blessings. Even in all the crap, the day to day stuff that happens and gets me down, I know that things are still good. Life is good. Family is good. Friends are good.
God is good. And faithful. And I know He is watching over us and taking care of us. No matter what is thrown at us, we will come out of it ok.
Reminding myself that God is still good. Always.
Until,
D
So, I know I complain a lot, but I really don't like to. It's just sometimes things are easier to deal with if I can share my feelings with others. Most of the time I find someone who has been there before that can sympathize with me or at least say, "Hey, I've been there. It will get better." or even "Hey, I've been there and it sucked." It makes me feel better to know I am not alone.
Ok, so maybe I do like to complain.
But I try not to complain all the time. At least I try not to whine about things. But today, man today I feel so bad for my Hubby. And for our situation right now. And just in general.
I have mentioned a few times how everything seems to be breaking around here. The washer is now possessed - working just fine sometimes and refusing to agitate at others. I haven't a clue what is going on with that thing.
I came home from my awesome weekend to find that the door handle on our microwave spontaneously broke. It basically has pulled away from the door and bowed out, making it very difficult to open and shut the door. The good thing is we actually have 2 microwaves in the kitchen, and another in the closet that we don't use, but the one that broke is the one above the stove and not exactly something that is easy to remove and replace. And, it is the one I use all the time because it is at *my eye level and I can see everything in it better. I don't like the other one. But beggars can't be choosers I suppose.
Something I haven't mentioned here is that it is very likely that my husband will lose his job at the end of the year. I can't really go into details because nothing is official, but that seems to be the way things are headed and so we are trying to prepare for the inevitable. The housing market as we all know, really, really stinks right now, and since he is in that field it is pretty unlikely that he will be able to secure employment elsewhere any time soon. So, we are preparing for him to start working on his own, and are trying to secure the things he needs to do that effectively. We purchased a new desktop computer and are setting up our spare room as an office just for him. Otherwise, we are on a spending freeze until...well, probably forever.
whee!
But then today happened - oh JOY! Hubby went for a bike ride and was attacked by a dog while he was riding the trail. The dog (a vicious black lab, by the way *eyeroll*) bit his ankle pretty good; he's got three puncture holes.
The car had been broken into. The passenger side window was smashed and his phone and a portable radio were gone. Thankfully they didn't find his wallet, which was also in the car, and they left his very expensive bike wheels in the back. The glove box had been ransacked - not sure what they were looking for, but they certainly made a mess doing it (now that I think about it, they were probably looking for the wallet).
Sooooooooo - we had insurance on the phone, but the deductible was still $50 (for them to replace it with a different, poorly rated phone) and the window is going to cost about $90 to replace. I probably don't need to mention how much we can't afford this. grrr
If these things happen in threes, then how many are we up to now? I am pretty sure it's more than 3.
Tonight we recorded our weekly Musing Mommies podcast, and of course, this episode was about the things we are thankful for. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to come up with some blessings. Even in all the crap, the day to day stuff that happens and gets me down, I know that things are still good. Life is good. Family is good. Friends are good.
God is good. And faithful. And I know He is watching over us and taking care of us. No matter what is thrown at us, we will come out of it ok.
Reminding myself that God is still good. Always.
Until,
D
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Marry You
I had such a great couple of days this weekend. The drive to Dallas was very fun. It was so great to get to know my friend and very talented photographer, Allen, a little better. When we work together, we don't get to sit and chat too much, so it was nice to have some quiet time to discuss all sorts of things.
And discuss we did! I am pretty sure there were only a handful of subjects we didn't cover.
The portrait session I helped him with that afternoon went smoothly. The vineyard we shot at was pretty, even though it was right off the freeway. That whole area would be a good place for a portrait session - there were some very nice office buildings across the street that would make for a nice backdrop as well. The winery building was small but beautiful and had some great areas to shoot in. And of course, there were the grape vines. This time of year the grapes are gone (or in some cases, shriveled on the vine) and the vines are beginning to yellow and dry out. But the rows still gleamed in the sun and made for a great photo op.
Friday evening after the shoot I met up with one of my dear friends from high school. We had dinner at Olive Garden (yum!) and had a chance to chat a little on the drive home (and a little more while circling the neighborhood just so I could finish my story! haha!). Once back at her place and after her kiddos were in bed, we all hung out on the couch, watched a little tv and played on our respective iPhones! lol! It was fun!
Saturday morning we got up and ventured out to a beautiful shopping center not far from their home and did a family photo shoot. It was so much fun running around the pretty shops before everything opened for the day. A huge Christmas tree was already up and decorated, the grounds were immaculate and the whole thing was perfect for a session.
After more visiting and lunch, Allen picked me up for the wedding. We headed over to the church and then were called to come out to the bride's home where the bridal party was getting ready. We shot some there and Allen left to find the guys. I rode with the bride and her maids in the HUGE limo out to the church. That was such a trip! I have never been in a limo that big before.
The girls got dressed at the church. There were a couple of pretty tense moments when the bride discovered she didn't have the chapstick she was addicted to, and when they were trying to get her into her dress. The zipper was a little messed up and the dress was pretty snug, so it took about 10 minutes to actually get her zipped up. I felt so bad for her; she was on the verge of panic for quite a while.
Thankfully everything worked out; a groomsman was able to run to Dillards for the chapstick and the zipper eventually cooperated. The ceremony went off without a hitch, and I got to shoot with a 5D Mark II and a beautiful 200 mm lens. About 10 minutes into the ceremony, Allen sent me over to the reception site to get detail shots. The reception was at the winery and it was soooo beautiful when they had it all set up. The tables were tight - they were seating 325 people in a room that really was more suited for about 250 tops. It was very difficult to get between the tables. But, we had so much fun and the reception was a blast. The couple left to a shower of sparklers that lit up the parking lot so beautifully. I got to stand up on the bumper of the limo and take some overhead shots of the getaway, taking in all the guests, sparklers and a running bride and groom.
Allen and I decided to drive back home that night, and we got on the road a little after 11PM. In order to keep each other awake, we talked the whole time. I did pretty good most of the way, but I really fought falling asleep for the last hour or so. My eyes were crossing even though Allen was talking to me. He did great driving and didn't seem tired at all. We got back to my house a little before 3AM and then of course I was wide awake. It took me about an hour to settle down and go to sleep, and I was so thankful this morning that the kids didn't know I was home so they left me alone and I was able to sleep in. Hubby took them to church so I could rest, but it left the house too quiet so I used the time instead to take a shower in peace, clean up a bit and vacuum the floors. So much for resting!
It was a great weekend, but I am totally beat. My whole body hurts, I have a headache and I am still fighting dozing off. So I will wrap up this incredibly boring blog post and call it a night.
Until,
D
And discuss we did! I am pretty sure there were only a handful of subjects we didn't cover.
The portrait session I helped him with that afternoon went smoothly. The vineyard we shot at was pretty, even though it was right off the freeway. That whole area would be a good place for a portrait session - there were some very nice office buildings across the street that would make for a nice backdrop as well. The winery building was small but beautiful and had some great areas to shoot in. And of course, there were the grape vines. This time of year the grapes are gone (or in some cases, shriveled on the vine) and the vines are beginning to yellow and dry out. But the rows still gleamed in the sun and made for a great photo op.
Friday evening after the shoot I met up with one of my dear friends from high school. We had dinner at Olive Garden (yum!) and had a chance to chat a little on the drive home (and a little more while circling the neighborhood just so I could finish my story! haha!). Once back at her place and after her kiddos were in bed, we all hung out on the couch, watched a little tv and played on our respective iPhones! lol! It was fun!
Saturday morning we got up and ventured out to a beautiful shopping center not far from their home and did a family photo shoot. It was so much fun running around the pretty shops before everything opened for the day. A huge Christmas tree was already up and decorated, the grounds were immaculate and the whole thing was perfect for a session.
After more visiting and lunch, Allen picked me up for the wedding. We headed over to the church and then were called to come out to the bride's home where the bridal party was getting ready. We shot some there and Allen left to find the guys. I rode with the bride and her maids in the HUGE limo out to the church. That was such a trip! I have never been in a limo that big before.
The girls got dressed at the church. There were a couple of pretty tense moments when the bride discovered she didn't have the chapstick she was addicted to, and when they were trying to get her into her dress. The zipper was a little messed up and the dress was pretty snug, so it took about 10 minutes to actually get her zipped up. I felt so bad for her; she was on the verge of panic for quite a while.
Thankfully everything worked out; a groomsman was able to run to Dillards for the chapstick and the zipper eventually cooperated. The ceremony went off without a hitch, and I got to shoot with a 5D Mark II and a beautiful 200 mm lens. About 10 minutes into the ceremony, Allen sent me over to the reception site to get detail shots. The reception was at the winery and it was soooo beautiful when they had it all set up. The tables were tight - they were seating 325 people in a room that really was more suited for about 250 tops. It was very difficult to get between the tables. But, we had so much fun and the reception was a blast. The couple left to a shower of sparklers that lit up the parking lot so beautifully. I got to stand up on the bumper of the limo and take some overhead shots of the getaway, taking in all the guests, sparklers and a running bride and groom.
Allen and I decided to drive back home that night, and we got on the road a little after 11PM. In order to keep each other awake, we talked the whole time. I did pretty good most of the way, but I really fought falling asleep for the last hour or so. My eyes were crossing even though Allen was talking to me. He did great driving and didn't seem tired at all. We got back to my house a little before 3AM and then of course I was wide awake. It took me about an hour to settle down and go to sleep, and I was so thankful this morning that the kids didn't know I was home so they left me alone and I was able to sleep in. Hubby took them to church so I could rest, but it left the house too quiet so I used the time instead to take a shower in peace, clean up a bit and vacuum the floors. So much for resting!
It was a great weekend, but I am totally beat. My whole body hurts, I have a headache and I am still fighting dozing off. So I will wrap up this incredibly boring blog post and call it a night.
Until,
D
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Marry Me
I can blog from my phone!!!
We are on our way home from Dallas. It's going to be a pretty long drive back. The wedding was so much fun! I have a ton to talk about, but it is very difficult to do this on the road. Have a wonderful weekend!
Until,
D
We are on our way home from Dallas. It's going to be a pretty long drive back. The wedding was so much fun! I have a ton to talk about, but it is very difficult to do this on the road. Have a wonderful weekend!
Until,
D
Friday, November 19, 2010
In Person
I am here in the Dallas hanging out with one of my oldest and dearest friends and her family. We see each other so rarely, that it feels like I can't get words out fast enough to talk about all I want to with the time we have together.
I am not a phone person. I mean, I will talk on the phone all day if I am able, but it takes a lot for me to get up the nerve to actually call someone.
So face time to me is priceless. Sitting across the table from someone, or next to them in the car, or together on their couch - it is my favorite time with friends.
And so I will soak it up while it lasts. Hope you have a great weekend!
Until,
D :)
I am not a phone person. I mean, I will talk on the phone all day if I am able, but it takes a lot for me to get up the nerve to actually call someone.
So face time to me is priceless. Sitting across the table from someone, or next to them in the car, or together on their couch - it is my favorite time with friends.
And so I will soak it up while it lasts. Hope you have a great weekend!
Until,
D :)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wake Me Up Inside
I thought yesterday's 4:30 wake up call was bad enough, but when the screaming started this morning at 2:30, I would have given anything for a couple more hours of sleep. I tried to ignore him; I paced the floor for several minutes thinking he would just settle down and go back to sleep. But when I went back into the hallway for the 3rd or 4th time to listen, I noticed that not only was he crying hysterically, he was actually out of bed and at the door.
He never gets out of the bed unless it's really bad.
So I opened the door and found my little sweet boy absolutely soaking wet from his neck to his feet.
Major wardrobe malfunction.
I don't know what happened with his diaper. And I really don't know where all that pee came from, but he was a mess. And he was freezing. Poor guy.
I got him cleaned up and dry and warm and there was no where to put him because his bed was soaked too so we went to the couch. He fell back to sleep relatively quickly, and I laid there most of the night under him, listening to the annoying whirring sound the dvd player was making. I had forgotten to turn it off when we went to bed.
Getting Kiddo to school this morning was trying; he was moving slow and I had no patience from the lack of sleep. But we made it, and once back home I was thankful when Port wanted to play outside for most of the morning. I've been falling asleep at my desk all day. Everything was going as well as could be expected until I heard Port crying out on the back deck. I walked out to find him standing on the step, with his pants and diaper halfway down his legs. The fantastic part was that he had pooped first! Woo hoo!
Soooooo, since he was covered, I had to carefully carry him into the bathroom and just hose him down. He had made such a mess!
Seriously, this is not the week for my washer to go out on me. OMG the laundry!!!
This afternoon the boys were playing in the back yard and had a fight and Kiddo threw a big wooden steak at Port and hit him in the head. It left a nice goose egg and a little busted spot. Seriously, what is with that? Do you remember when he threw a rock at Port's head??
ugh
On a good note, I am leaving tomorrow for a weekend in Dallas to shoot a family session for one of my clients and a wedding with Allen. Thankfully I am riding with him so I don't have to worry about driving. I am so excited to see my friend and her family and do the session for her. It should be a wonderful and fun weekend...if I can stay awake!
At least I won't be dealing with anymore potty accidents. I hope.
Until,
D :)
He never gets out of the bed unless it's really bad.
So I opened the door and found my little sweet boy absolutely soaking wet from his neck to his feet.
Major wardrobe malfunction.
I don't know what happened with his diaper. And I really don't know where all that pee came from, but he was a mess. And he was freezing. Poor guy.
I got him cleaned up and dry and warm and there was no where to put him because his bed was soaked too so we went to the couch. He fell back to sleep relatively quickly, and I laid there most of the night under him, listening to the annoying whirring sound the dvd player was making. I had forgotten to turn it off when we went to bed.
Getting Kiddo to school this morning was trying; he was moving slow and I had no patience from the lack of sleep. But we made it, and once back home I was thankful when Port wanted to play outside for most of the morning. I've been falling asleep at my desk all day. Everything was going as well as could be expected until I heard Port crying out on the back deck. I walked out to find him standing on the step, with his pants and diaper halfway down his legs. The fantastic part was that he had pooped first! Woo hoo!
Soooooo, since he was covered, I had to carefully carry him into the bathroom and just hose him down. He had made such a mess!
Seriously, this is not the week for my washer to go out on me. OMG the laundry!!!
This afternoon the boys were playing in the back yard and had a fight and Kiddo threw a big wooden steak at Port and hit him in the head. It left a nice goose egg and a little busted spot. Seriously, what is with that? Do you remember when he threw a rock at Port's head??
ugh
On a good note, I am leaving tomorrow for a weekend in Dallas to shoot a family session for one of my clients and a wedding with Allen. Thankfully I am riding with him so I don't have to worry about driving. I am so excited to see my friend and her family and do the session for her. It should be a wonderful and fun weekend...if I can stay awake!
At least I won't be dealing with anymore potty accidents. I hope.
Until,
D :)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Accident
As I write this, it is not even noon yet and we have already had an interesting day.
Well, interesting by a mommy's standards I guess.
Port woke me up at 4:30 crying hysterically. I don't know what his deal was, but we ended up on the couch. I could sooooo close my eyes right here in my chair right now and fall into a beautiful, blissful deep sleep.
But there is too much to do.
Kiddo wet the bed this morning just before he woke up and he made a mad dash for the bathroom but it was too late. I got him cleaned up and off to school and then once we were back home Port's diaper exploded and flooded what he was wearing too.
Then I find out that Hubby got rear-ended on the way to work. Thankfully it was just a tap, but the guy hit the rack on the back end that is bolted to the frame of the car. So, there could be unseen damage to the frame. Joy.
Then, the clothes washer decided to stop agitating. And my computer has crashed twice today, and this is after the monitor went out on me temporarily yesterday. I picked up Kiddo from school and he informed me that he left his one and only jacket on the playground today and he *thinks* it will be in the lost and found tomorrow.
So I think I'll quit today. I can't take anything else.
Until,
D
Well, interesting by a mommy's standards I guess.
Port woke me up at 4:30 crying hysterically. I don't know what his deal was, but we ended up on the couch. I could sooooo close my eyes right here in my chair right now and fall into a beautiful, blissful deep sleep.
But there is too much to do.
Kiddo wet the bed this morning just before he woke up and he made a mad dash for the bathroom but it was too late. I got him cleaned up and off to school and then once we were back home Port's diaper exploded and flooded what he was wearing too.
Then I find out that Hubby got rear-ended on the way to work. Thankfully it was just a tap, but the guy hit the rack on the back end that is bolted to the frame of the car. So, there could be unseen damage to the frame. Joy.
Then, the clothes washer decided to stop agitating. And my computer has crashed twice today, and this is after the monitor went out on me temporarily yesterday. I picked up Kiddo from school and he informed me that he left his one and only jacket on the playground today and he *thinks* it will be in the lost and found tomorrow.
So I think I'll quit today. I can't take anything else.
Until,
D
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Simple
I am trying to keep up the momentum on the house clean out. I haven't really done much more, but the wheels in my head are still turning and plans are being made. My goal is to try to donate as much as I can and preferably do it to places other than Goodwill. I do think Goodwill is a good organization and it is very easy to make donations there, but I kind of want to do something more - I want some of there things to go directly to people in need, rather than into a store where anyone can walk in and buy it.
For example, one of the local dry cleaning companies is collecting coats for kids, so I am planning on cleaning out our coat closet and donating our old coats there. I want our unnused clothes and baby items to go to a shelter or a children's home. Of course, I will try to sell a few things too if I can, because in this process of purging one of my goals is to turn our spare room back into an office for Hubby. Part of our office clutter problem is that we don't really have any shelving or storage solutions for all our office supplies and equipment. If I can make a few bucks selling some of our stuff, that money will go toward a few shelving units and some boxes and organizational items.
Another area that needs a good purging is the boys room. I really need to get in there and clean out all the outgrown clothes and toys. There is so much stuff just piling up because there is no where to put it out of the way.
Of course I could say that about all the rooms.
I am trying to keep my eyes open for a place to recycle magazines and phone books. I will try to sell some of the trade magazines we have to Half Price Books, but I am pretty sure they won't want back copies of Rachel Ray and Real Simple. ;-) So those will have to go to recycling. I read online that you can actually compost old phone books as long as you remove the pages with colored ink and plastic covers. I am not sure how I feel about the yellow paper though - surely there is some sort of dye in that, right? I really don't want all that being infused into my vegetable garden. I am sure that the ink isn't much better either.
There really just isn't any way to get away from all the chemicals in everything. But that is a discussion for another time.
Until,
D :)
For example, one of the local dry cleaning companies is collecting coats for kids, so I am planning on cleaning out our coat closet and donating our old coats there. I want our unnused clothes and baby items to go to a shelter or a children's home. Of course, I will try to sell a few things too if I can, because in this process of purging one of my goals is to turn our spare room back into an office for Hubby. Part of our office clutter problem is that we don't really have any shelving or storage solutions for all our office supplies and equipment. If I can make a few bucks selling some of our stuff, that money will go toward a few shelving units and some boxes and organizational items.
Another area that needs a good purging is the boys room. I really need to get in there and clean out all the outgrown clothes and toys. There is so much stuff just piling up because there is no where to put it out of the way.
Of course I could say that about all the rooms.
I am trying to keep my eyes open for a place to recycle magazines and phone books. I will try to sell some of the trade magazines we have to Half Price Books, but I am pretty sure they won't want back copies of Rachel Ray and Real Simple. ;-) So those will have to go to recycling. I read online that you can actually compost old phone books as long as you remove the pages with colored ink and plastic covers. I am not sure how I feel about the yellow paper though - surely there is some sort of dye in that, right? I really don't want all that being infused into my vegetable garden. I am sure that the ink isn't much better either.
There really just isn't any way to get away from all the chemicals in everything. But that is a discussion for another time.
Until,
D :)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Head On
Another day, another post forgotten until it's too late for me to think. I promise to be more on top of things tomorrow. Today just had too many errands, whiny kids, dirty dogs, smelly diapers and dirty dishes.
I pulled up to Kiddo's school today to pull into my usual parking spot so I could pick him up and as soon as I turned off the car my phone rang. It was the school nurse. The moment she told me who she was, my heart stopped. Kiddo was in her office, but thankfully it was only for a bump on the head.
That's pretty sad when you are thankful for a head bonk.
He got hit with a locker door and has a pretty good little goose egg on his forehead. I am so thankful that my first call from the nurse did not involve epi pens or medical assistance. *shew!*
So that was the excitement for the day.
And with that, I am taking my weary body to bed. I will leave you with today's mental jukebox song.
Lovely, by Sara Haze
Until,
D :)
I pulled up to Kiddo's school today to pull into my usual parking spot so I could pick him up and as soon as I turned off the car my phone rang. It was the school nurse. The moment she told me who she was, my heart stopped. Kiddo was in her office, but thankfully it was only for a bump on the head.
That's pretty sad when you are thankful for a head bonk.
He got hit with a locker door and has a pretty good little goose egg on his forehead. I am so thankful that my first call from the nurse did not involve epi pens or medical assistance. *shew!*
So that was the excitement for the day.
And with that, I am taking my weary body to bed. I will leave you with today's mental jukebox song.
Lovely, by Sara Haze
Until,
D :)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Where I Stood
I cannot count the number of times in my life I have wished there was a way to record all the thoughts in my head. I get to thinking about something and is swirls around and swirls around and works itself out to the point that it sounds so good - and of course at that moment the thoughts are perfect and I have no way of getting them out of my head and in written or recorded form. It is frustrating. Often I think of things so deeply that even if I can sit down to write, I can't make it come out the right way. Or the thoughts are so complex with so many layers that I couldn't possibly express them in a way that makes sense.
I am not trying to say I am highly intelligent or anything, but my thoughts sometimes go into great detail that I find fascinating to me. And based on the response I get from my blog readers and the podcast listeners and my other various outlets, I am sure there is an audience that would appreciate them. But it kills me that they may never be heard. I need you to just get in my head and sit around there for a while, listening and looking at the pretty pictures my thoughts create. I think it would be interesting.
I know that at some point technology will find a way, but for now I have to sit down at the computer each day and desperately try to remember what it was I wanted to talk about and how to say it. And so many times, while I am doing something else, I find myself thinking of the perfect post from start to finish and then I sit down to write it and with the click of the first keys, poof! It is gone.
That is how this post came to be. It was perfect in my head when I was standing in the kitchen making Kiddo's lunch a minute ago, and when I finished that and sat down to write I couldn't remember a darn thing about what I wanted to say, except for the part about getting in my head. I should have been recording a voice memo into my phone while I was making his sandwich.
Darn it.
I guess I will try again tomorrow.
For tonight though, I will let you in on a little corner of my brain. It's over there to the left, where the jukebox is sitting. Today's selection has been playing on repeat all day. It came up on my iPhone shuffle this morning and has been with me ever since.
Where I Stood, Missy Higgins
Until,
D :)
I am not trying to say I am highly intelligent or anything, but my thoughts sometimes go into great detail that I find fascinating to me. And based on the response I get from my blog readers and the podcast listeners and my other various outlets, I am sure there is an audience that would appreciate them. But it kills me that they may never be heard. I need you to just get in my head and sit around there for a while, listening and looking at the pretty pictures my thoughts create. I think it would be interesting.
I know that at some point technology will find a way, but for now I have to sit down at the computer each day and desperately try to remember what it was I wanted to talk about and how to say it. And so many times, while I am doing something else, I find myself thinking of the perfect post from start to finish and then I sit down to write it and with the click of the first keys, poof! It is gone.
That is how this post came to be. It was perfect in my head when I was standing in the kitchen making Kiddo's lunch a minute ago, and when I finished that and sat down to write I couldn't remember a darn thing about what I wanted to say, except for the part about getting in my head. I should have been recording a voice memo into my phone while I was making his sandwich.
Darn it.
I guess I will try again tomorrow.
For tonight though, I will let you in on a little corner of my brain. It's over there to the left, where the jukebox is sitting. Today's selection has been playing on repeat all day. It came up on my iPhone shuffle this morning and has been with me ever since.
Where I Stood, Missy Higgins
Until,
D :)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Picky Picky Head
For months I fought the dinner time battle with Port. He is an extremely picky eater, and so every night I would serve him up a plate of what we were having and every night I would toss the same plate of food in the trash because he wouldn't eat it. Every night we fought with him about sitting at the table, and 9 times out of 10 he would end up crawling all over me while I was trying to eat my meal.
It was frustrating and infuriating and I became so tired of the battle.
And you know, parenting is all about picking your battles. I got to the point that I didn't want this one anymore. I also realized that part of the problem is that Port still isn't really on our schedule when it comes to eating. I can regulate breakfast and lunch, but he was still hungry every night around 5PM. Unfortunately, that is right when I am either cleaning the kitchen or just starting dinner; there is no way that I could have dinner ready that early. And it doesn't make sense to do that as a family - Hubby is never home from work that early.
I even give the boys a big snack when Kiddo gets home from school. It still didn't change the fact that Port is ready to eat at 5 every day. And if I don't let him eat anything at 5 in the hopes that it will make him really hungry when supper is ready, it always backfires on me. Either he bugs me and cries and stays underfoot the whole time I am making dinner, or he works himself into a tizzy by the time dinner is ready.
So, a couple of months ago I stopped trying to conform him to our schedule. I feed him what he wants at 5 (usually a hot dog, cheese, sandwhich or nuggets) and then at dinner time I give him vegetables and fruit that I know he will eat. Many times it is nothing more than a banana and some carrots or grapes, and some times it is a banana, some carrots and grapes. haha.
*cough* I said he was a picky eater. No seriously though, he will also eat apples and pears, raisins, cranberries, cherries, strawberries, and blueberries. Occasionally I will give him some beans if we are having them, or chicken and okra when that is what's for dinner.
And let me tell you, it's not perfect or ideal, but it is sooooo much better! He doesn't always stay at the table, but he does sit long enough to eat something. And I don't have to worry so much about wasting the food anymore. I wish he would try more foods and be more open to tasting stuff, but right now I don't have enough energy to fight him on it. Later on, when he is older and better at communicating, I will try to get him to taste new things.
Until then, I am stocking up on bananas every week.
Until,
D :)
It was frustrating and infuriating and I became so tired of the battle.
And you know, parenting is all about picking your battles. I got to the point that I didn't want this one anymore. I also realized that part of the problem is that Port still isn't really on our schedule when it comes to eating. I can regulate breakfast and lunch, but he was still hungry every night around 5PM. Unfortunately, that is right when I am either cleaning the kitchen or just starting dinner; there is no way that I could have dinner ready that early. And it doesn't make sense to do that as a family - Hubby is never home from work that early.
I even give the boys a big snack when Kiddo gets home from school. It still didn't change the fact that Port is ready to eat at 5 every day. And if I don't let him eat anything at 5 in the hopes that it will make him really hungry when supper is ready, it always backfires on me. Either he bugs me and cries and stays underfoot the whole time I am making dinner, or he works himself into a tizzy by the time dinner is ready.
So, a couple of months ago I stopped trying to conform him to our schedule. I feed him what he wants at 5 (usually a hot dog, cheese, sandwhich or nuggets) and then at dinner time I give him vegetables and fruit that I know he will eat. Many times it is nothing more than a banana and some carrots or grapes, and some times it is a banana, some carrots and grapes. haha.
*cough* I said he was a picky eater. No seriously though, he will also eat apples and pears, raisins, cranberries, cherries, strawberries, and blueberries. Occasionally I will give him some beans if we are having them, or chicken and okra when that is what's for dinner.
And let me tell you, it's not perfect or ideal, but it is sooooo much better! He doesn't always stay at the table, but he does sit long enough to eat something. And I don't have to worry so much about wasting the food anymore. I wish he would try more foods and be more open to tasting stuff, but right now I don't have enough energy to fight him on it. Later on, when he is older and better at communicating, I will try to get him to taste new things.
Until then, I am stocking up on bananas every week.
Until,
D :)
Friday, November 12, 2010
Busy Being Fabulous
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the craziest time of the year for me. I have 3 photo sessions this weekend, next weekend I will be in Dallas for a couple of days shooting a family session and a wedding, and I have 2 sweet mommas who's babies are due on the 15th. I will be working in newborn sessions for them both. I am so blessed to be able to do all of this and I am excited about it even though it will be pretty stressful.
This is nothing new of course, it is always the busiest time of the year. I just have to keep reminding myself to take it all one step at a time, one day at a time, and to do what I can, when I can. It will all get done and I will have so much fun along the way.
Now, if only I could ship the kids off to the grandparents for a few weeks... ;-)
Until,
D :)
This is nothing new of course, it is always the busiest time of the year. I just have to keep reminding myself to take it all one step at a time, one day at a time, and to do what I can, when I can. It will all get done and I will have so much fun along the way.
Now, if only I could ship the kids off to the grandparents for a few weeks... ;-)
Until,
D :)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
When I Come Back Around
In the fall of 1999 I graduated from college. Finally. After many, many semesters of floundering, changing my mind, and failing classes, I finally got my head together long enough to finish up a major in vocal music education and get myself a degree. I took my EXCET exam, barely passed, and was awarded with all level general music education certification.
Getting married in the spring of '99 really helped; at that point all I wanted to do was finish something, anything, and have that accomplishment. I didn't want to drop out and have all that time and money be a waste, and I was concerned about having something that could potentially get me a nice job if I needed it.
If I wanted it.
See, even though music has always been my passion, teaching music never was. But, heavily influenced by my family and friends, it was what I studied in college anyway. And I guess, to me it was more about filling the need, the primal desire to sing, that kept me in the program. Singing was all I ever wanted to do, and I took the opportunity to do it in the only capacity I felt I could.
And all of this is not to say that I never enjoyed teaching - my student teaching experience was really fun and I did enjoy it immensely. But I never had an excitement about it unless I was right there in the thick of it. I didn't want to do it if I didn't have too. Of course, the hours didn't help either - have I mentioned before that I am not a morning or a scheduled person?? Yeah, that was a HUGE disadvantage to teaching.
So anyway, in the fall of '99 I received my degree and since it was technically in the middle of the school year, I decided to take some grad classes (what was I thinking???) and substitute teach until I could apply for full time school positions in the spring.
Because that is what you do when you acquire a teaching degree, you teach. Right?
Hubby and I sort of had a desire to move to Austin. If we had to stay in Texas it was the only place we could really see us living, so I started researching school districts in that area. I was told by several people that the Round Rock school district was one of the best, and from what I could tell the pay scale was slightly higher than the other districts. It seemed like fate when that spring an elementary school music teacher position in a Round Rock school opened up, so I sent in my little, pathetic, blank resume. When they called me in for an interview, I put on my most teacherly attire and drove the 3+ hours from Huntsville to Austin. I pulled into the parking lot of a school I had never been too, in a city I had only dreamt about and sat in my car for a few moments to collect my thoughts. A teaching job wasn't really what I wanted, but it made sense and it would provide us with some security so it was the most logical choice. I loved working with the elementary aged kids when I did my student teaching and I felt that level best fit my personality and inexperience. So I went in to the school, totally aced the interview (they LOVED me) and then I came back to my car. I sat in the space and stared at the wood fence that lined the parking lot. It was done. Either they would offer me the job or they wouldn't. I prayed for God's will and drove back to Huntsville.
A few days later they offered me the position.
I had the weekend to think it over and make a decision, so Hubby and I once again drove to Austin to look for housing. This was way before the internet made shopping on line for housing easy, so we had to make the long drive. We spent all day Saturday looking at dumpy apartment after dumpy apartment and then drove back on Sunday looking at dumpy house after dumpy house. We returned to Huntsville Sunday night exhausted and weary. There just wasn't anything that we could afford on a teacher's salary. We couldn't take into account Hubby's potential salary because we weren't even sure he could find a job right away.
Even back then we were practical. Sort of.
So on Monday when the school called me back for an answer, I turned them down. Something about it was so easy, and yet I knew that that decision would change the trajectory of my life forever. I never went into public school teaching, and instead Hubby and I uprooted everything we knew and moved to Arizona the next summer to start a totally new life together.
I haven't thought about that school or that decision in years. I couldn't even remember the name of the school or where it was. And in my mind, it was almost as if the whole thing was a dream. It really didn't even exist in that "former" life of mine. So much has changed since then.
Last night, I pulled into the parking lot of an elementary school in Austin. I was there to judge an art competition for the students participating in the Reflections Art Program. I pulled in a parking space and looked up at a wooden fence surrounding the lot.
I was at the same school, in the same parking space that I sat in almost 11 years ago.
Life is a wonderfully mysterious, amazing thing.
Until,
D :)
Getting married in the spring of '99 really helped; at that point all I wanted to do was finish something, anything, and have that accomplishment. I didn't want to drop out and have all that time and money be a waste, and I was concerned about having something that could potentially get me a nice job if I needed it.
If I wanted it.
See, even though music has always been my passion, teaching music never was. But, heavily influenced by my family and friends, it was what I studied in college anyway. And I guess, to me it was more about filling the need, the primal desire to sing, that kept me in the program. Singing was all I ever wanted to do, and I took the opportunity to do it in the only capacity I felt I could.
And all of this is not to say that I never enjoyed teaching - my student teaching experience was really fun and I did enjoy it immensely. But I never had an excitement about it unless I was right there in the thick of it. I didn't want to do it if I didn't have too. Of course, the hours didn't help either - have I mentioned before that I am not a morning or a scheduled person?? Yeah, that was a HUGE disadvantage to teaching.
So anyway, in the fall of '99 I received my degree and since it was technically in the middle of the school year, I decided to take some grad classes (what was I thinking???) and substitute teach until I could apply for full time school positions in the spring.
Because that is what you do when you acquire a teaching degree, you teach. Right?
Hubby and I sort of had a desire to move to Austin. If we had to stay in Texas it was the only place we could really see us living, so I started researching school districts in that area. I was told by several people that the Round Rock school district was one of the best, and from what I could tell the pay scale was slightly higher than the other districts. It seemed like fate when that spring an elementary school music teacher position in a Round Rock school opened up, so I sent in my little, pathetic, blank resume. When they called me in for an interview, I put on my most teacherly attire and drove the 3+ hours from Huntsville to Austin. I pulled into the parking lot of a school I had never been too, in a city I had only dreamt about and sat in my car for a few moments to collect my thoughts. A teaching job wasn't really what I wanted, but it made sense and it would provide us with some security so it was the most logical choice. I loved working with the elementary aged kids when I did my student teaching and I felt that level best fit my personality and inexperience. So I went in to the school, totally aced the interview (they LOVED me) and then I came back to my car. I sat in the space and stared at the wood fence that lined the parking lot. It was done. Either they would offer me the job or they wouldn't. I prayed for God's will and drove back to Huntsville.
A few days later they offered me the position.
I had the weekend to think it over and make a decision, so Hubby and I once again drove to Austin to look for housing. This was way before the internet made shopping on line for housing easy, so we had to make the long drive. We spent all day Saturday looking at dumpy apartment after dumpy apartment and then drove back on Sunday looking at dumpy house after dumpy house. We returned to Huntsville Sunday night exhausted and weary. There just wasn't anything that we could afford on a teacher's salary. We couldn't take into account Hubby's potential salary because we weren't even sure he could find a job right away.
Even back then we were practical. Sort of.
So on Monday when the school called me back for an answer, I turned them down. Something about it was so easy, and yet I knew that that decision would change the trajectory of my life forever. I never went into public school teaching, and instead Hubby and I uprooted everything we knew and moved to Arizona the next summer to start a totally new life together.
I haven't thought about that school or that decision in years. I couldn't even remember the name of the school or where it was. And in my mind, it was almost as if the whole thing was a dream. It really didn't even exist in that "former" life of mine. So much has changed since then.
Last night, I pulled into the parking lot of an elementary school in Austin. I was there to judge an art competition for the students participating in the Reflections Art Program. I pulled in a parking space and looked up at a wooden fence surrounding the lot.
I was at the same school, in the same parking space that I sat in almost 11 years ago.
Life is a wonderfully mysterious, amazing thing.
Until,
D :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Let Beauty Awake
Port woke me up this morning with his diaper in his hand.
The boys have been getting up earlier since the time change - it's not as bad as some of my poor friends, but I certainly don't like being woken up before my alarm goes off. I suppose it is pretty nice when I am greeted with a sweet smiling by and a gentle "good mownin mumma". But when the wake up is an open wet diaper tangled in a pair of pajama bottoms sitting on my chest, it doesn't exactly start my day off right.
I don't care to get up before my alarm either, because it leaves us too much time to get ready in the morning. And if there is downtime I get sleepy. I like to get up and keep moving until we are out the door. But anyway, I suppose it could be worse.
The other night when I was out with my girlies, I recalled a story I never blogged that you might be interested in reading. It was from our vacation to Arizona a couple of years ago. If you are new around here or don't remember, Hubby and I took the boys on a 2 week long trip to Flagstaff for our annual family vacation with the inlaws. Kiddo was almost 4 and Port was only 4 months old. I blogged the first few days of the trip but I am pretty sure I never finished it out. {on a side note, I titled almost all of them with the songs from Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel. I thought it was pretty brilliant... ;-) }
To refresh your memory (or get you up to speed), we drove to Arizona, stayed in Flagstaff for about a week and then drove back. We were packed into our little CRV and towed a trailer with the stuff that didn't fit in the car. Port was still very new, and thankfully sleepy, and I was pumping 8xs a day to feed him. On the drive there and back, we traveled pretty unplanned; that is, we didn't really reserve hotel rooms or anything along the way. We basically landed where we did, found a hotel and would stay the night. We stayed in a few dumps and a few pretty cool places along the way.
On the way back home we were in New Mexico (I think) and had come to the point that we were ready to stop for the night. We started looking for a hotel and it just happened to be time for me to pump again. I had no problem pumping in the car, but since we were so close to stopping I decided to hold off until we found a place to stay. We found a seemingly ok Motel 6 (they are always a crap shoot - sometimes decent, sometimes awful) and decided it had the best rate that we were going to find in that area. Being the end of the trip, we were a little tapped out financially and really wanted to save some money. So we stopped, paid for the room and then towed the kids up to our room. As we walked through the hotel grounds, I was disturbed by one, the sheer volume of people staying there, and two, the overwhelming smell of pot coming from several of the rooms.
uh huh
We went in our room and it became very clear that we would never be comfortable there; with all of the loud ruckus in the pool and the doorways of other rooms, there was no way we could rest. So, Hubby went back down to get us out of the room (and get our money back) and we decided to try the Motel 8 across the street. It looked pretty nice; it had much newer construction and a very tall fence around the perimeter of the property. The lobby looked like something out of a 5 star luxury hotel and when we walked into the room - AMAZING! It was so beautiful! I was so relieved to be somewhere comfortable, quiet and nice!
The room itself was set up in a pretty unusual way. When you walked in the door, the bathroom with toilet and shower was to the right. Walking in lead you straight through the vanity area; when walking in and opening the door to the right, there was a huge 6+ foot wide mirror on the left. Looking in the mirror from the door you could see the bed room portion of the room in the reflection. So you walk in, are immediately in the vanity area and then walk through to the bedroom. The beds were on the right, tv on the left and sitting area at the far end of the room next to a big window.
So if you followed that - that was the general layout of the room. Basically one big rectangle with the bathroom tucked off behind the front door.
We got the boys settled inside watching cartoons and since I was about to explode, I set myself up to pump while Hubby went back out to the car to get the rest of our things. I set up on the bed and did my thing. And being that it was just my family, I didn't really care and I was so tired, I didn't bother with covering anything up (you know modesty flies all out the window when you become a mom; especially the second time around). So the boys were watching TV and I was pumping and all was right with the world. After a few minutes I hear a key card in the door and it begins to open. I say to Hubby (who is coming in the door), "so did you get everything ok?"
I looked into the vanity area to the mirror which showed me a view of the door. It cracked open and a head popped in and a man with a big smile on his face saw me...
and his expression immediately changed to horror.
As did mine, because the man was not my husband.
As I scrambled for something to cover myself, he mumbled a hasty, "oh my God I am so sorry!" and scurried out the door. I can only imagine what he thought I was doing, hooked up to some sort of medieval torture device.
I was too tired to be terribly alarmed. I figured it was the cleaning crew or something with the wrong room, and I was pretty sure they'd walked in on much worse. But then, the phone rang. I answered it and the concierge was on the other end.
"WHO ARE YOU and WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THIS ROOM!?!?" the voice yelled at me. I calmly gave her my name and told her we just checked in a minute ago. I asked her what the problem was. She replied that someone else was assigned to that room and she gave it to us by mistake and that her horrified guest had just walked in on me. She realized she had messed up and quickly got off the phone with me without so much as an apology.
I wonder how long that poor man had nightmares...
Until,
D :)
The boys have been getting up earlier since the time change - it's not as bad as some of my poor friends, but I certainly don't like being woken up before my alarm goes off. I suppose it is pretty nice when I am greeted with a sweet smiling by and a gentle "good mownin mumma". But when the wake up is an open wet diaper tangled in a pair of pajama bottoms sitting on my chest, it doesn't exactly start my day off right.
I don't care to get up before my alarm either, because it leaves us too much time to get ready in the morning. And if there is downtime I get sleepy. I like to get up and keep moving until we are out the door. But anyway, I suppose it could be worse.
The other night when I was out with my girlies, I recalled a story I never blogged that you might be interested in reading. It was from our vacation to Arizona a couple of years ago. If you are new around here or don't remember, Hubby and I took the boys on a 2 week long trip to Flagstaff for our annual family vacation with the inlaws. Kiddo was almost 4 and Port was only 4 months old. I blogged the first few days of the trip but I am pretty sure I never finished it out. {on a side note, I titled almost all of them with the songs from Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel. I thought it was pretty brilliant... ;-) }
To refresh your memory (or get you up to speed), we drove to Arizona, stayed in Flagstaff for about a week and then drove back. We were packed into our little CRV and towed a trailer with the stuff that didn't fit in the car. Port was still very new, and thankfully sleepy, and I was pumping 8xs a day to feed him. On the drive there and back, we traveled pretty unplanned; that is, we didn't really reserve hotel rooms or anything along the way. We basically landed where we did, found a hotel and would stay the night. We stayed in a few dumps and a few pretty cool places along the way.
On the way back home we were in New Mexico (I think) and had come to the point that we were ready to stop for the night. We started looking for a hotel and it just happened to be time for me to pump again. I had no problem pumping in the car, but since we were so close to stopping I decided to hold off until we found a place to stay. We found a seemingly ok Motel 6 (they are always a crap shoot - sometimes decent, sometimes awful) and decided it had the best rate that we were going to find in that area. Being the end of the trip, we were a little tapped out financially and really wanted to save some money. So we stopped, paid for the room and then towed the kids up to our room. As we walked through the hotel grounds, I was disturbed by one, the sheer volume of people staying there, and two, the overwhelming smell of pot coming from several of the rooms.
uh huh
We went in our room and it became very clear that we would never be comfortable there; with all of the loud ruckus in the pool and the doorways of other rooms, there was no way we could rest. So, Hubby went back down to get us out of the room (and get our money back) and we decided to try the Motel 8 across the street. It looked pretty nice; it had much newer construction and a very tall fence around the perimeter of the property. The lobby looked like something out of a 5 star luxury hotel and when we walked into the room - AMAZING! It was so beautiful! I was so relieved to be somewhere comfortable, quiet and nice!
The room itself was set up in a pretty unusual way. When you walked in the door, the bathroom with toilet and shower was to the right. Walking in lead you straight through the vanity area; when walking in and opening the door to the right, there was a huge 6+ foot wide mirror on the left. Looking in the mirror from the door you could see the bed room portion of the room in the reflection. So you walk in, are immediately in the vanity area and then walk through to the bedroom. The beds were on the right, tv on the left and sitting area at the far end of the room next to a big window.
So if you followed that - that was the general layout of the room. Basically one big rectangle with the bathroom tucked off behind the front door.
We got the boys settled inside watching cartoons and since I was about to explode, I set myself up to pump while Hubby went back out to the car to get the rest of our things. I set up on the bed and did my thing. And being that it was just my family, I didn't really care and I was so tired, I didn't bother with covering anything up (you know modesty flies all out the window when you become a mom; especially the second time around). So the boys were watching TV and I was pumping and all was right with the world. After a few minutes I hear a key card in the door and it begins to open. I say to Hubby (who is coming in the door), "so did you get everything ok?"
I looked into the vanity area to the mirror which showed me a view of the door. It cracked open and a head popped in and a man with a big smile on his face saw me...
and his expression immediately changed to horror.
As did mine, because the man was not my husband.
As I scrambled for something to cover myself, he mumbled a hasty, "oh my God I am so sorry!" and scurried out the door. I can only imagine what he thought I was doing, hooked up to some sort of medieval torture device.
I was too tired to be terribly alarmed. I figured it was the cleaning crew or something with the wrong room, and I was pretty sure they'd walked in on much worse. But then, the phone rang. I answered it and the concierge was on the other end.
"WHO ARE YOU and WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THIS ROOM!?!?" the voice yelled at me. I calmly gave her my name and told her we just checked in a minute ago. I asked her what the problem was. She replied that someone else was assigned to that room and she gave it to us by mistake and that her horrified guest had just walked in on me. She realized she had messed up and quickly got off the phone with me without so much as an apology.
I wonder how long that poor man had nightmares...
Until,
D :)
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Throwing It All Away
So today I tossed out 419 pieces of paper that the kids have drawn on. Most of it was Kiddo's drawings. I kept about 30 that were really great/unusual/memorable and tossed the rest. Several coloring books were tossed as well.
419. Yes, I counted.
It's not that I intentionally counted, but I just kept a running tally in my head, counting as each piece went into the trash bag, much like I counts the steps I take or measures in music.
What you don't count your steps everywhere you go? Oh, must just be me then.
The music measures, well that would be the result of years and years of training.
Anyway, the pages filled a 33 gallon trash bag. Please don't get onto me about recycling them or shredding them or all that - if I waited until I got around to shredding, it would never happen. If I could figure out all the rules for recycling paper and then had to sort all the pages based on whether it was colored paper or marked on with marker, crayon or pencil, or if I had to sort based on the presence of glue or staples or whatnot.... yeah, the stacks would still be sitting there.
I try to be as "green" as I possibly can, most of the time. But right now I am just going with the momentum I am feeling and getting rid of stuff.
Baby steps.
I also cleaned out a fully packed-to-the-gills-running-over 13 gallon trash can full of plastic shopping bags and took them all to the recycling bin at HEB. I completely filled their bin. My apologies to HEB. At least I was able to do the right thing with those. Of course, then we got home and Port had a poop-tastic diaper. A plastic bag would have come in handy to dispose it. Thankfully I had a plastic bag full of onions, fresh from the store. It worked just fine.
Aren't you glad I talk about poopy diapers?
The weirdest thing happened today when I was at the grocery store with Port. We were in the frozen food section and he was babbling away, making no sense but just happy as a clam, when out of the blue he screams, "My ear!! My ear!!" He whined in pain and laid his head down on the cart. I looked at him and rubbed his head and didn't see anything alarming or unusual. Almost as quickly he sat up and was fine. I thought he may have had a brief ear ache or something; he's had a lot of sinus drainage lately. I had pretty much forgotten the whole thing until we got out to the car and I put him in his car seat. That was when I noticed his ear was swollen and red. Upon closer inspection, I discovered a spot that looked like a pin hole. It was as if someone had poked him with a needle.
I have no idea what got him. There wasn't anyone else in the isle that I can recall and I certainly didn't see any flying insects. My best guess is that he was bit by a spider, but the hole was really big. I can't imagine what kind of spider could leave that large of a puncture wound and not be seen in the process.
Ahh the mysteries of HEB...
I shall leave you with the mental jukebox song of the day. A friend introduced me to the tune, and now I can't get it out of my head.
Until,
D :)
Dear John, Taylor Swift
419. Yes, I counted.
It's not that I intentionally counted, but I just kept a running tally in my head, counting as each piece went into the trash bag, much like I counts the steps I take or measures in music.
What you don't count your steps everywhere you go? Oh, must just be me then.
The music measures, well that would be the result of years and years of training.
Anyway, the pages filled a 33 gallon trash bag. Please don't get onto me about recycling them or shredding them or all that - if I waited until I got around to shredding, it would never happen. If I could figure out all the rules for recycling paper and then had to sort all the pages based on whether it was colored paper or marked on with marker, crayon or pencil, or if I had to sort based on the presence of glue or staples or whatnot.... yeah, the stacks would still be sitting there.
I try to be as "green" as I possibly can, most of the time. But right now I am just going with the momentum I am feeling and getting rid of stuff.
Baby steps.
I also cleaned out a fully packed-to-the-gills-running-over 13 gallon trash can full of plastic shopping bags and took them all to the recycling bin at HEB. I completely filled their bin. My apologies to HEB. At least I was able to do the right thing with those. Of course, then we got home and Port had a poop-tastic diaper. A plastic bag would have come in handy to dispose it. Thankfully I had a plastic bag full of onions, fresh from the store. It worked just fine.
Aren't you glad I talk about poopy diapers?
The weirdest thing happened today when I was at the grocery store with Port. We were in the frozen food section and he was babbling away, making no sense but just happy as a clam, when out of the blue he screams, "My ear!! My ear!!" He whined in pain and laid his head down on the cart. I looked at him and rubbed his head and didn't see anything alarming or unusual. Almost as quickly he sat up and was fine. I thought he may have had a brief ear ache or something; he's had a lot of sinus drainage lately. I had pretty much forgotten the whole thing until we got out to the car and I put him in his car seat. That was when I noticed his ear was swollen and red. Upon closer inspection, I discovered a spot that looked like a pin hole. It was as if someone had poked him with a needle.
I have no idea what got him. There wasn't anyone else in the isle that I can recall and I certainly didn't see any flying insects. My best guess is that he was bit by a spider, but the hole was really big. I can't imagine what kind of spider could leave that large of a puncture wound and not be seen in the process.
Ahh the mysteries of HEB...
I shall leave you with the mental jukebox song of the day. A friend introduced me to the tune, and now I can't get it out of my head.
Until,
D :)
Dear John, Taylor Swift
Monday, November 08, 2010
House of Cards
I really have nothing to blog about today.
Well, I take that back, I have lots to blog about, but I made the mistake of waiting until the evening to open this thing up and frankly, my brain started turning off the lights and shutting things down about an hour ago. The doors are locked, the windows have been checked, the dog has been fed, the cat has been put out and my little brain is dreaming of it's warm pajamas and ratty old robe, washing it's face and drinking a big glass of water before snuggling down into the deep recesses of the many blankets on it's bed.
Oh wait, no, that's just me. Except for the part about having everything shut down and done.
I still need to make a school lunch and turn off everything in the house. The dog is snoring and I have no idea where the cat is. Hubby of course, is already in bed, leaving me to shut it all down by myself.
Such is life.
Anyway, I spent most of the day today (when I wasn't editing photo sessions) thinking about what I need to do to like my house again.
Yes, I hate my house. Hate it. Hate every square inch.
You know why?
Because I can't see a square inch because of all the crap we have around here.
It has officially taken over. I am so sick of it all that I hate just sitting here. I hate looking at it. I just want to move and leave everything behind. We keep stuff for the most rediculous reasons! Sometimes we don't even have a reason for keeping it. For example, today I threw out a pair of jeans. They ripped right in the middle of the derriere about 6 months ago and I have been holding on to them. WHY!?!?!?!?!? What on Earth could I possibly do with a pair of jeans that allows my rear to hang out?? Seriously. I don't know what "logic" told me to wash, fold and put them back in my closet. I pulled them out on Halloween and didn't even remember that there was he huge tear! Thankfully my Hubby pointed it out before I left the house and mortified myself once again.
So anyway, I threw them out. Good riddance. There is SO. MUCH. STUFF in this house that is just like those jeans - broken, unusable, unfixable, and yet we hang on to it for some strange reason.
Part of me feels guilty for filling up a landfill with all of this stuff, but I finally realized that my house was turning into a landfill! I can't live like this!! Pretty soon my friends will be calling the producers of Hoarders.
So yeah, I am a little dramatic, but seriously in need of a change. I have got to get rid of at least half the stuff in this house. It is stressing me out and depressing me.
Any ideas, helpful hints, offers to help? I am open to any and all suggestions.
Until,
D :-/
Well, I take that back, I have lots to blog about, but I made the mistake of waiting until the evening to open this thing up and frankly, my brain started turning off the lights and shutting things down about an hour ago. The doors are locked, the windows have been checked, the dog has been fed, the cat has been put out and my little brain is dreaming of it's warm pajamas and ratty old robe, washing it's face and drinking a big glass of water before snuggling down into the deep recesses of the many blankets on it's bed.
Oh wait, no, that's just me. Except for the part about having everything shut down and done.
I still need to make a school lunch and turn off everything in the house. The dog is snoring and I have no idea where the cat is. Hubby of course, is already in bed, leaving me to shut it all down by myself.
Such is life.
Anyway, I spent most of the day today (when I wasn't editing photo sessions) thinking about what I need to do to like my house again.
Yes, I hate my house. Hate it. Hate every square inch.
You know why?
Because I can't see a square inch because of all the crap we have around here.
It has officially taken over. I am so sick of it all that I hate just sitting here. I hate looking at it. I just want to move and leave everything behind. We keep stuff for the most rediculous reasons! Sometimes we don't even have a reason for keeping it. For example, today I threw out a pair of jeans. They ripped right in the middle of the derriere about 6 months ago and I have been holding on to them. WHY!?!?!?!?!? What on Earth could I possibly do with a pair of jeans that allows my rear to hang out?? Seriously. I don't know what "logic" told me to wash, fold and put them back in my closet. I pulled them out on Halloween and didn't even remember that there was he huge tear! Thankfully my Hubby pointed it out before I left the house and mortified myself once again.
So anyway, I threw them out. Good riddance. There is SO. MUCH. STUFF in this house that is just like those jeans - broken, unusable, unfixable, and yet we hang on to it for some strange reason.
Part of me feels guilty for filling up a landfill with all of this stuff, but I finally realized that my house was turning into a landfill! I can't live like this!! Pretty soon my friends will be calling the producers of Hoarders.
So yeah, I am a little dramatic, but seriously in need of a change. I have got to get rid of at least half the stuff in this house. It is stressing me out and depressing me.
Any ideas, helpful hints, offers to help? I am open to any and all suggestions.
Until,
D :-/
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Day by Day
I am too tired to make this into anything that makes sense, so it will just be random thoughts today.
***********
Last Tuesday night my Hubby loaded up his things into a friend's car and they took off together for a long drive to Arizona.
Thankfully their trip went rather well (for the most part) and they made it home safe and sound.
I was home alone with the kiddos for 4.5 days.
By the end of day 1 I was already getting a bit frazzled. By day 2 I was ready to pull my hair out.
So on day 3 I loaded them up and drove them to Houston to visit with my inlaws.
Thankfully, I was able to meet up with a couple of my very best girlfriends for dinner that evening. The plan was to get to Houston, get the kids comfortable with the grandparents and meet up with my friends at the restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately I left a little bit later than I had planned and ended up pretty much dumping the kids and our dog on my inlaws and sprinting out the door. (sorry guys!)
I made it to the restaurant before my friends, and put our name in for a table. The place was packed - our wait was supposed to be 30-35 minutes, but we waited for over an hour.
I felt so bad about myself when my friends showed up. They both looked amazing - all dressed nice and hair and makeup done. I was in a nasty gray long sleeved t-shirt and dirty jeans. I had planned on taking a shower before the drive that afternoon, but had to bathe the dog instead. So while they were looking nice for an evening out, I was a disheveled heap of greasy hair, dirty clothes and body laced with the lovely scent of dirty dog, dog shampoo and fast food french fries.
Ahh the joys of being a mom.
I am sure my friends didn't mind too much, though they did sit on the opposite side of the table. ;-) We still had a great evening that ended all too soon. I really wanted to keep talking, but I could tell they were both tired. There is just never enough time.
Until,
D
***********
Last Tuesday night my Hubby loaded up his things into a friend's car and they took off together for a long drive to Arizona.
Thankfully their trip went rather well (for the most part) and they made it home safe and sound.
I was home alone with the kiddos for 4.5 days.
By the end of day 1 I was already getting a bit frazzled. By day 2 I was ready to pull my hair out.
So on day 3 I loaded them up and drove them to Houston to visit with my inlaws.
Thankfully, I was able to meet up with a couple of my very best girlfriends for dinner that evening. The plan was to get to Houston, get the kids comfortable with the grandparents and meet up with my friends at the restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately I left a little bit later than I had planned and ended up pretty much dumping the kids and our dog on my inlaws and sprinting out the door. (sorry guys!)
I made it to the restaurant before my friends, and put our name in for a table. The place was packed - our wait was supposed to be 30-35 minutes, but we waited for over an hour.
I felt so bad about myself when my friends showed up. They both looked amazing - all dressed nice and hair and makeup done. I was in a nasty gray long sleeved t-shirt and dirty jeans. I had planned on taking a shower before the drive that afternoon, but had to bathe the dog instead. So while they were looking nice for an evening out, I was a disheveled heap of greasy hair, dirty clothes and body laced with the lovely scent of dirty dog, dog shampoo and fast food french fries.
Ahh the joys of being a mom.
I am sure my friends didn't mind too much, though they did sit on the opposite side of the table. ;-) We still had a great evening that ended all too soon. I really wanted to keep talking, but I could tell they were both tired. There is just never enough time.
Until,
D
Saturday, November 06, 2010
The Things You Say
Kiddo: "mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo.."
Me: (gritting my teeth and saying in a warning tone) "Kiddo..."
Kiddo: "mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo... Mumma do you know what 'mo' means?"
Me: (flatly. trying not to rip my hair out) "no."
Kiddo: "It means be quiet. (brief pause, then) mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo, mo..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later, still in the car...
Kiddo: "Mumma, how do they make sugar?"
Me: "It comes from a plant."
Kiddo: "What kind of plant?"
Me: "A sugar cane."
Kiddo: "A what?"
Me: "Sugar Cane."
Kiddo: "What kind of cane?"
Me: "Sugar."
Kiddo: "Then what is second?"
Me: "What do you mean, what is second?"
Kiddo: "What comes second? When they are making sugar?"
Me: "I am not sure how they do it. We will have to look it up later when I have access to the computer."
Kiddo: "I think they add salt."
Please send the men with white coats.
Until,
D :)
Friday, November 05, 2010
Oh Lone Stranger
I had a really rough evening with the boys last night. After such an early wake up that morning, I think we were all pretty worn out by dinner time. It was bath night, and per the unfortunate "usual" lately Kiddo highly protested taking a bath. Port wasn't too eager either, which is weird for him. So they both whined and fussed and generally protested all the way to the bathroom. Then they whined and fussed while getting undressed. Then Port peed all over the bathroom floor while I was waiting for the tub to fill up. Joy. As if I hadn't had enough pee to clean up that morning.
So by the time they actually got in the bath, I was beyond frazzled. It was all I could do to keep it together and my goal was for them to play in the tub a little bit while I relaxed. But the whining and the fussing and the arguing just didn't stop. They weren't playing with each other, they just fought over the toys and everything else they could find.
At one point Kiddo accidentally tossed a tub toy out of the tub and he asked me to get it for him. When he asked, he forgot to say "please" and so as I was getting it for him I reminded him that he needed to say it. He just looked at me with a blank stare. Thinking he may not have heard me over Port's rendition of "Oh Lone Stranger" from the Veggie Tales, I repeated myself, "you need to say please".
Again a blank stare.
By then I had already handed it to him and so I said, "say thank you" and again he just stared at me.
This is sooooo not how I raised him.
And, being at the end of my rope already, I just snapped. I grabbed the toy out of his hand and tossed it in the trash. I told him that if he wasn't going to be nice and say please and thank you then he didn't deserve the toy.
He then told me he didn't want to live here anymore.
I offered to help him pack.
I know, I know, probably not the best way to go about it - but I was so done. I just didn't have my wits about me and I snapped. Of course he immediately "changed his mind" and took it all back, but I was determined at that point to teach him a lesson. I told him that he could forget about going to school and seeing his friends because since he was moving out of the house he would have to get a job so he could pay for a place to live. That upset him even more so I dropped it and let him marinate on it for a little while. Then when I was getting him out of the tub he sheepishly asked me if he had to go pack his stuff. I told him no, and then we had a nice long talk about the power of words. How, when you say something to someone, even if it is just because you are angry or upset, and even if you take it back or apologize, the other person can forgive you but it still hurts. I told him that words are one of his superpowers and that he needed to be very careful about what he says to people. I reminded him how he felt when one of his friends told him she didn't want to play with him anymore. He immediately got upset at the memory - it was the perfect example because even though he and his friend have since made up and are playing together now, the memory of what she said still upsets him. I told him it was the same thing when he tells me he doesn't want to live in our home anymore. I told him that Daddy and I work really hard to provide a place for him to live and clothes to wear and toys to play with and food to eat. I asked him how he thought it made us feel when he said something like that.
He seemed to understand it. So we went about the evening.
As the boys were getting ready for bed, I was putting the sheets back on the bunk beds. Kiddo kept getting underfoot and I was struggling with the sheets and the whole situation pushed me to the limit again. I snapped at him to move and as he did he busted out into another chorus of "Oh Lone Stranger".
That was it for me; I put them to bed 20 minutes early because I couldn't take it anymore.
Thankfully they didn't notice and went right to sleep.
Until,
D :)
So by the time they actually got in the bath, I was beyond frazzled. It was all I could do to keep it together and my goal was for them to play in the tub a little bit while I relaxed. But the whining and the fussing and the arguing just didn't stop. They weren't playing with each other, they just fought over the toys and everything else they could find.
At one point Kiddo accidentally tossed a tub toy out of the tub and he asked me to get it for him. When he asked, he forgot to say "please" and so as I was getting it for him I reminded him that he needed to say it. He just looked at me with a blank stare. Thinking he may not have heard me over Port's rendition of "Oh Lone Stranger" from the Veggie Tales, I repeated myself, "you need to say please".
Again a blank stare.
By then I had already handed it to him and so I said, "say thank you" and again he just stared at me.
This is sooooo not how I raised him.
And, being at the end of my rope already, I just snapped. I grabbed the toy out of his hand and tossed it in the trash. I told him that if he wasn't going to be nice and say please and thank you then he didn't deserve the toy.
He then told me he didn't want to live here anymore.
I offered to help him pack.
I know, I know, probably not the best way to go about it - but I was so done. I just didn't have my wits about me and I snapped. Of course he immediately "changed his mind" and took it all back, but I was determined at that point to teach him a lesson. I told him that he could forget about going to school and seeing his friends because since he was moving out of the house he would have to get a job so he could pay for a place to live. That upset him even more so I dropped it and let him marinate on it for a little while. Then when I was getting him out of the tub he sheepishly asked me if he had to go pack his stuff. I told him no, and then we had a nice long talk about the power of words. How, when you say something to someone, even if it is just because you are angry or upset, and even if you take it back or apologize, the other person can forgive you but it still hurts. I told him that words are one of his superpowers and that he needed to be very careful about what he says to people. I reminded him how he felt when one of his friends told him she didn't want to play with him anymore. He immediately got upset at the memory - it was the perfect example because even though he and his friend have since made up and are playing together now, the memory of what she said still upsets him. I told him it was the same thing when he tells me he doesn't want to live in our home anymore. I told him that Daddy and I work really hard to provide a place for him to live and clothes to wear and toys to play with and food to eat. I asked him how he thought it made us feel when he said something like that.
He seemed to understand it. So we went about the evening.
As the boys were getting ready for bed, I was putting the sheets back on the bunk beds. Kiddo kept getting underfoot and I was struggling with the sheets and the whole situation pushed me to the limit again. I snapped at him to move and as he did he busted out into another chorus of "Oh Lone Stranger".
That was it for me; I put them to bed 20 minutes early because I couldn't take it anymore.
Thankfully they didn't notice and went right to sleep.
Until,
D :)
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Barefoot and Crazy
A blood curdling scream woke me at 5:15 this morning. I shook my head to wake myself more quickly and listened as Port called for me over and over. It didn't sound like he was going to give up and go back to sleep, so I decided to go in and check on him.
It was a good thing I did because I walked in to find him completely undressed. He was lying in his bed crying into a blanket. I picked him up and he was like a little popsicle. It was cold in the house, so he had to be freezing. I felt around for his diaper but couldn't find it. I found his pants; soaked. I felt the bed; soaked. Wetness. Everywhere.
*sigh*
I took him in the spare room where we keep the diapers and cleaned him up and redressed him. There was no way I could put him back to bed so I took him to bed with me. We tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 6:45
*yawn* (no really, I actually just yawned. lol)
Once everyone was up and getting ready for school, I had the chance to look in the bed for the missing diaper. I found it, still intertwined with his pajama bottoms, completely dry. He must have disrobed before he even went to sleep. Poor little guy was probably cold and wet all night.
So today has been challenging to say the least. Thankfully I had a date with a friend to drop him off at her house for a few hours so I could get some work done. And work I did - thank goodness! The time flew though. I think I need about a week of days like that just to get caught up.
Or I would take a few days like this if I had to... (please excuse the grainy iPhone pics)
Of course the cat might not like it too much. ;-)
They slept like that for almost 4 hours yesterday. It was a long nap, but he really needed it.
Now, should I use duct tape or some other form of adhesive for the diaper tonight?? ;-)
Until,
D :)
It was a good thing I did because I walked in to find him completely undressed. He was lying in his bed crying into a blanket. I picked him up and he was like a little popsicle. It was cold in the house, so he had to be freezing. I felt around for his diaper but couldn't find it. I found his pants; soaked. I felt the bed; soaked. Wetness. Everywhere.
*sigh*
I took him in the spare room where we keep the diapers and cleaned him up and redressed him. There was no way I could put him back to bed so I took him to bed with me. We tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 6:45
*yawn* (no really, I actually just yawned. lol)
Once everyone was up and getting ready for school, I had the chance to look in the bed for the missing diaper. I found it, still intertwined with his pajama bottoms, completely dry. He must have disrobed before he even went to sleep. Poor little guy was probably cold and wet all night.
So today has been challenging to say the least. Thankfully I had a date with a friend to drop him off at her house for a few hours so I could get some work done. And work I did - thank goodness! The time flew though. I think I need about a week of days like that just to get caught up.
Or I would take a few days like this if I had to... (please excuse the grainy iPhone pics)
Now, should I use duct tape or some other form of adhesive for the diaper tonight?? ;-)
Until,
D :)
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Another Layer
It took some digging, but I eventually found it. I had Kiddo read the instructions to me and he decided that he was going to decorate his "feather" by drawing something on it in marker. I thought it was a great idea - he is an amazing artist so I just *knew* he would come up with something awesome. He got down on the floor of the kitchen with a set of markers and went to work. I went back to my computer to finish up editing a family session I shot a couple of weeks ago. Every now and then I was brought out of my zone by giggles and laughter coming from the kitchen, but I figured Kiddo was just drawing something funny.
Well, I was right. Sort of.
20 minutes later he came out of the kitchen with the feather, giggling wildly. He was very proud of his creation and couldn't wait to show it to me. I took one look and almost fell out of my chair.
Kiddo had drawn a bunch of the Veggie Tales characters - not unlike him as we are pretty Veggie Tales obsessed right now. The problem was...he drew them all, um, uh...
passing gas.
Oh yes! He is all boy, that one.
*sigh*
Each character had a lovely expression on their face and a cloud emerging from their back end with the word "pfffft" written inside. And as Kiddo roared with laughter and giggled so much he teared up a little, I frantically scoured my brain for an idea on how to fix this atrocity.
I came up with a plan. I cut up several pieces of colored construction paper into little geometrical shapes and instructed Kiddo to create a paper mosaic with the pieces; thereby completely covering up his "artwork". Thankfully he agreed and worked on it for a bit before bed. He will finish it up today after school.
Thank goodness for layers. ;)
Until,
D :)
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Treat Me Right
We had a great Halloween! Despite it being on a Sunday, I think it worked out pretty well. Our pumpkins were designed by Kiddo this year. He drew the faces he wanted and Hubby carved them for him. They are very Veggie-Tales-esque. The one on the left is the spitting image of the Peas in those cartoons.
We were so thankful to have a fun, safe place to go where the kids could hang out with their friend. Kiddo and 2 of his buddies showed up in the exact same costume! We were overrun with Darth Vaders. lol!
Kiddo's old Dash costume fit Port perfectly, so that was his "choice" for this year. Poor guy, he may never get an original costume while his brother's old one still fit him. Thankfully, at this age, he doesn't care.
There was a little light saber fighting between the forces of good and evil...
Here is our whole crew setting out to trick-or-treat. We had a pretty good sized group this year.
One of Julia's neighbors dressed as Facebook! I loved her costume! Or should I say, I "like" her costume! ;)
Kiddo of course was an old pro at the trick-or-treating part, but it was quite humorous that at every house he would boldly announce that he was allergic to peanuts. A couple of times I saw him pull back his bucket when someone tried to put a Snickers or other nut product in it. While I am very proud of him for being verbal about it, it was a bit embarrassing that he was making such a big fuss about it. I kept telling him to just accept what he was given, say thank you, and then when we were done we would trade out with our friends that could have the peanut candy. But he insisted on telling every single person that he couldn't have peanuts and he would ask for something that was peanut free.
I have to say it made me proud.
Port was a little hesitant at first to go up to strangers and get the candy, but after a few houses he was doing great. He would very cautiously approach and then just stand there in silence. Then he would sometimes whisper a thank you before cautiously walking away. At times I couldn't get him to let go of my hand to go up to the house. I think next year will be a good one for him when he finally understands what it is all about.
We made the rounds and made it home before bedtime (yes!). The boys were exhausted and completely zonked out before I even made it back to the living room after putting them to bed.
Sadly, Hubby stayed home to hand out candy to the kids that came by our house, and he only had about 4 visitors. Our was the only house on the street with the lights on, so not many even ventured up our street. So pitiful! Now I am left with all this candy and I have no idea what to do with it. I certainly can't eat it all so I may just send it to work with Hubby. I know it will get eaten there.
Hope you all had a wonderful night of spooks and fun. Now it's time to bring on the official Holiday Season! I am pulling out the Christmas music! Woo hoo!!!
Until,
D :)
For the second year in a row we were invited to hang out with Julia and her family in their neighborhood. They always do up Halloween in a big way - the majority of the houses on her street and on the surrounding streets go all out with decorations and candy, and several even set up barbecue pits and big screen TVs and make it a block party. One of the neighbors sets up a little kid friendly haunted house in his garage every year, and it is the hit of the block!
I have to say it made me proud.
Port was a little hesitant at first to go up to strangers and get the candy, but after a few houses he was doing great. He would very cautiously approach and then just stand there in silence. Then he would sometimes whisper a thank you before cautiously walking away. At times I couldn't get him to let go of my hand to go up to the house. I think next year will be a good one for him when he finally understands what it is all about.
We made the rounds and made it home before bedtime (yes!). The boys were exhausted and completely zonked out before I even made it back to the living room after putting them to bed.
Sadly, Hubby stayed home to hand out candy to the kids that came by our house, and he only had about 4 visitors. Our was the only house on the street with the lights on, so not many even ventured up our street. So pitiful! Now I am left with all this candy and I have no idea what to do with it. I certainly can't eat it all so I may just send it to work with Hubby. I know it will get eaten there.
Hope you all had a wonderful night of spooks and fun. Now it's time to bring on the official Holiday Season! I am pulling out the Christmas music! Woo hoo!!!
Until,
D :)
Monday, November 01, 2010
Today Is the Day
Happy first day of NaBloPoMo!!
It is the first of November and also the first day of National Blog Posting Month. For those participating, the challenge is to write a blog post every day for the month of November. It is a great way to find writing inspiration, gain followers, get more comfortable with your own blog and to drive yourself crazy when the holidays roll around and you can't think of anything to write because you are so busy doing other things..
Ahem
Seriously though, I do love NaBloPoMo - I participate every year. It does drive me a little nutty sometimes, but it also makes me fall in love with blogging all over again each year.
Another thing I love about it is discovering new blogs. If you are participating this year, send me a friend request through NaBloPoMo. My screen name is Photomomma. I am hoping to highlight several new (to me) and tasty blogs throughout the month of November.
In other news, I was just starting to feel sort of normal after 2 months of sinus infection and yesterday the mold count jumped up and I was miserable again. I sneezed all day yesterday and this morning I woke up with that awful raw throat and itchy face that plagues me when my allergies are bad. I am off now to pour a ton of vitamins and remedies down my throat and pray I don't get sick again. I am too busy and have way too much going on this week to deal with this.
I had two awesome photo sessions this weekend; one all afternoon, multiple location, senior session and a family session. The senior was awesome - she is a beautiful girl so it was so easy to photograph her. The family session was a little more challenging (as they usually are when you are dealing with more than one small child) but it was still fun.
It turns out Sunday was a bit of a blunder day for both Hubby and I (at least in the morning anyway). I had my session so Hubby took the boys to church. First, he couldn't get out the door in time. Then, he not only mixed up the boys' security tags, but he dropped Port off in the wrong room. Port had to play with kids about a year younger than him during his Sunday school time. And in my corner, I was shooting a session with a wonderful family at a small yet beautiful park with
about 20 other photographers and their clients. :-/
It was pretty interesting to say the least. We all had to shoot around each other and watch the other groups to know when to move and claim your next spot. During the session, 3 out of my 4 camera batteries died. That was fun. And, at some point, I managed to kneel down in a pile of animal poo. I didn't even notice it until my client started fishing for a wipey for me. Embarrassing! But, it's all part of the job I guess.
I did briefly make small talk with a local photographer I blog stalk - that was kind of cool. :-) She seemed really nice.
Halloween pics to come. I haven't had a chance to pull them off the camera yet. I didn't get any good shots of the boys, of course. Because I am like, a really awesome photographer and all.
Ugh. lol!
Until,
D :)
Ahem
Seriously though, I do love NaBloPoMo - I participate every year. It does drive me a little nutty sometimes, but it also makes me fall in love with blogging all over again each year.
Another thing I love about it is discovering new blogs. If you are participating this year, send me a friend request through NaBloPoMo. My screen name is Photomomma. I am hoping to highlight several new (to me) and tasty blogs throughout the month of November.
In other news, I was just starting to feel sort of normal after 2 months of sinus infection and yesterday the mold count jumped up and I was miserable again. I sneezed all day yesterday and this morning I woke up with that awful raw throat and itchy face that plagues me when my allergies are bad. I am off now to pour a ton of vitamins and remedies down my throat and pray I don't get sick again. I am too busy and have way too much going on this week to deal with this.
I had two awesome photo sessions this weekend; one all afternoon, multiple location, senior session and a family session. The senior was awesome - she is a beautiful girl so it was so easy to photograph her. The family session was a little more challenging (as they usually are when you are dealing with more than one small child) but it was still fun.
It turns out Sunday was a bit of a blunder day for both Hubby and I (at least in the morning anyway). I had my session so Hubby took the boys to church. First, he couldn't get out the door in time. Then, he not only mixed up the boys' security tags, but he dropped Port off in the wrong room. Port had to play with kids about a year younger than him during his Sunday school time. And in my corner, I was shooting a session with a wonderful family at a small yet beautiful park with
about 20 other photographers and their clients. :-/
It was pretty interesting to say the least. We all had to shoot around each other and watch the other groups to know when to move and claim your next spot. During the session, 3 out of my 4 camera batteries died. That was fun. And, at some point, I managed to kneel down in a pile of animal poo. I didn't even notice it until my client started fishing for a wipey for me. Embarrassing! But, it's all part of the job I guess.
I did briefly make small talk with a local photographer I blog stalk - that was kind of cool. :-) She seemed really nice.
Halloween pics to come. I haven't had a chance to pull them off the camera yet. I didn't get any good shots of the boys, of course. Because I am like, a really awesome photographer and all.
Ugh. lol!
Until,
D :)
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