Smooth move Exlax! (or Nantucket Boy)

Let’s end this long and stressful week with a funny story, shall we?

My best friend calls me last night during 30 Rock and tells me she has a “funny joke”. I’m always in the mood to laugh, so I tell her to enlighten me. Let’s call her Nantucket Girl. We’ll call her boyfriend (who I adore dearly) Nantucket Boy. So I listen to the story…

Nantucket Girl: Nantucket Boy wanted to drink something other than beer or water, so I told him to drink some tea. Mind you, he’s never drank tea before. He went into the kitchen, made his tea, and then we settled in on the couch together – both with tea cups in hand.

Nantucket Girl: After our show finished, I went into the kitchen to put our cups away. Low and behold, I see the wrapper to the tea bag that Nantucket Boy used. Yikes!

Nantucket Girl: I went back in the living room to ask Nantucket Boy about his choice in tea, “Nantucket Boy, why did you make the Smooth Move Tea?” He responded, “What? Huh? Eh? I just grabbed a tea bag from the Red Rose box…..does this mean I’m going to have diarrhea in an hour????”

Many of you may not laugh or even find this story funny (I definitely didn’t do the retelling justice when compared to the way Nantucket Girl shared the funny story), but I’ll tell you that I laughed so hard I thought I was going to toss my cookies! Mr. M and Tman looked at me very strangely until they heard the story too.

Lesson of the day boys and girls: Never mix your laxative tea bags with your regular tea bags because someone might get hurt.

I love you Nantucket Girl and Boy!!!

The Power of Technology

Technology is certainly a powerful thing. It can be used for good and very often used for evil. Let’s focus on the positive today, shall we? Kate’s blog entry this morning put a smile on my face, and hope for a great day in my heart.

My oldest sister, BigSis, lives on the island of Oahu with her hubby and son. I miss them dearly. I just want to hug my nephew and watch him grow like my beautiful niece who lives close to me. I’m thankful that while he’s always lived apart from me, he knows me. I’m not just “that aunt who lives across the country”. I’m happy to report that they will be moving to the east coast this summer!

Any way, BigSis is BabyC’s godmother and had a great idea to read him stories over the webcam. How clever. Thank goodness for the geniuses who created the internet! The phone is a great thing, but my little baby will now be able to get to know his aunt, uncle, and cousin. They won’t just be the “family that live somewhere across the country”.

I’d really like to invest in a good, quality webcam and software so that BabyC can appear clearly to BigSis, and vice-versa.

Life is good.

Inspiration

The essence of life is that it’s challenging. Sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter. Sometimes your body tenses, and sometimes it relaxes or opens. Sometimes you have a headache, and sometimes you feel 100% healthy. From an awakened perspective, trying to tie up all the loose ends and finally get it together is death, because it involves rejecting a lot of your basic experience.
-Pema Chodron

My colleague (who I also consider my life coach) read me that quote a couple weeks ago. It hit me hard because it’s so true. I’m constantly beating myself up because I have piles of laundry that needed to be folded two weeks ago, or because I have stacks of bills and papers that need to be filed. I also have guilt about not always keeping up with friendships like I should. Or why I ate like crap yesterday and didn’t go for a walk because I had too much work to do. I could go on forever. What I’m trying to say is that I have guilt for always dropping the ball in some aspect in my life. I can’t live like this! Things will never be perfect, and that’s life, right? I printed a couple copies of this quote and have them hanging in my work area and in my kitchen. I need a constant reminder that imperfection is life. Or that life is imperfection.

I DVR the Oprah show every day. I simply love her show. I think most of the time she presents real and important issues that matter. While I don’t have time to watch many of the shows, I try to watch the most inspirational shows. I watched a couple shows during the last week that really moved and inspired me again to live life to the fullest. And to appreciate every second I have with my kids.

Oprah interviewed Michael J. Fox, and he said something that I’ll never forget. He said that “every moment is special and important”. He was talking about how no matter what he’s doing, if his kids want to show or tell him something, he’ll stop what he’s doing to see what they want to show him. He said whatever they want to share is more important than what he’s doing. As parents, how often do we tell our kids “later, not now, I’m busy”? I’ll be the first to admit I’m guilty. You never get time back. You can never go back and talk to your 7 year old daughter who wants to tell you about how well she printed her name. It’s no secret that kids grow up in the blink of an eye. It’s no secret that we don’t live forever. It’s no secret that we will die some day. He’s an incredible man, and reminded me how important it is to grab onto every moment in life. I read his first book years ago, and I definitely think I’m going to buy his new book.

I also watched a show about incredible fathers, and I cried like a baby when she got to the story about the soldier who kept a journal for his unborn son. His wife purchased a journal that was specifically for fathers to write in for their children. During her pregnancy, he was deployed to Iraq and took the journal. He began writing in the journal faithfully. We wrote about life, God, and growing up. Real issues that any father would discuss with his son. He was a beautiful writer!

Shortly after the birth of their son, the husband came home for a small amount of time (I think 6 weeks). Then he was sent back to Iraq, where he was killed by a road-side bomb. Sad, sad, sad. I also felt very angry listening to this story, but I won’t get into that! While the father had very little time with his son, his words live forever in his journal. His wife published a book based on his journal – I’d like to check that out as well. I haven't been keeping up with my kids' journals lately, and need to get back to writing in them.

Again, this story has reminded me how precious life is, and how I need to focus on the big stuff, and not sweat the small stuff. Family and love is what it’s all about. The rest is just a sack of small potatoes. Or ba-day-das, as my Aunt Rita would call them.

The Things Kids Do

BabyC is obsessed with phones. We are convinced that rather than an obsession, it’s his way of telling the rest of his family that we use our phones entirely too much. Mr. M thinks he sounds like a SIMS character when he babbles on the phone. You’d swear he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Well today my little guy called California. At 7:30 in the morning. I’ll remind you that it was only 4:30am in Cali. I know, I know. It’s my fault for letting him play with the phone! After about 2 minutes of button pressing, the phone rang. He called someone I work with for my part-time job, and luckily she has 5 children of her own and understood.

Last night at the dinner table, Tman seemed to have been in deep thought. I asked him what he was thinking about….
Tman: “You know Mom, Easter is just as important as Christmas, don’t you think?”
Me: “Yes, absolutely”
Tman: “I mean, Jesus died for us and was resurrected. That has to be as important as His birth!”
Me: “You’re onto something! Yes, yes I agree”

So I’m thinking to myself, wow this kid really does think deeply about things. That is, until he got to his point…

“So how come we don’t get almost 2 weeks off of school at Easter like we do at Christmas?”

Kids keep life so incredibly interesting. Never a dull day, never a dull moment. I know kids aren’t for everyone, but I couldn’t imagine my life without my boys.

Foster a Pooch

I’m trying to convince Mr. M to allow us to open our home to foster a dog. If I didn’t have to work, I’d stay home with BabyC, Pup-Pup, and my 5 other nonexistent mutts. I’m a HUGE dog lover, and have a bigger heart than presently fits in my chest. I cry while watching any of the dog shows on TV. I want to save every dog from being euthanized.

Tman also shares my passion, and has high hopes to manage his own shelter when he grows up. I’ve told him that I’d be right there to support him, and volunteer in his shelter. While most 12 year old boys dream of becoming professional baseball players or wealthy business men, mine wants to save the world – or more specifically, the world’s dogs. I love that kid.

BabyC on the other hand enjoys terrorizing our poor dog. Chasing her and squawking with arms flailing. From the first day BabyC came home, we made it very clear to Pup-Pup who was in charge: BabyC. We’ve trained her to pretty much stay away from him. She’s a loving dog, but she is an animal. Period. Some days I really feel bad for her when all she wants to do is take a nap in peace.

We’re taking a family trip to Florida in about 3 weeks, so I’ve asked Mr. M to think about it and that we’d revisit when we return home. Potentially, we’d like to adopt another dog (an older dog), but Pup-Pup is our first, and we need to make sure we pick the right dog. We’re not sure if she could even live with another dog, so fostering would be a great opportunity to see how she reacts.

Keeping a Smile on My Face

I’m not going to lie; these last few days have been trying. I continue to try and keep a positive attitude. Music helps. A lot. Isn’t it amazing how a good song can make you feel? All better for those 3 short minutes, right?

On the other hand, nothing could make this little guy happy this morning (or in the middle of the night these days). Except baby cheese puffs. Lots of cheese puffs will make any pain go away.

My poor Pup-Pup was very sick last night, puking up her insides (including blood). She was happy when bedtime came since she got to sleep with Mom and Dad (for the first time ever). She seems ok today, though I’m keeping a close eye on her.

A diaper explosion rocked our house yesterday. I think BabyC was even checking his feet for a piece of rogue doo-doo. I know I found one in the dining room!

What other good stuff is going on? I swear I’m a happy person!

Today is *still* going to be a great day…

…even though I woke up with a sore throat. God love children and their germy-germs. Either way, it still will be a super day because I’m alive and healthy, right? A woman I didn’t know well passed away last night of cancer. She was in her early 40’s, with a husband and two children. She was diagnosed less than a year ago. The cliché “Life is too short” is not a cliché at all. It’s a true statement for many of us. Live for the now, tell the people you love that you love them. Appreciate them – even the little things they do.

I try to thank my husband, Mr. M for everything he does to help his family, and I don’t tell him to boost his ego. I tell him because I truly am thankful for meeting such a wonderful person. Speaking of thanking the guy…the last few months he’s been working on the last true reminder of what this house used to look like. One more coat of paint, a rug, some window covers, and this porch will be good as new!

Over the last few months, I’ve become somewhat of a TV addict. Usually, many of my programs get taped on the DVR, but never watched – because I just don’t have time. Lately I’ve been contemplating this new addiction. I attribute it to:
1. The invention of the DVR. Before DVR, I’d miss programs left and right because I was never available when the shows were on TV
2. The mental numbness TV provides. I’ve never been busier in my life than I currently am. TV is a way for me to truly escape! I don’t have to read anything, respond, think, react, or solve a problem. The TV does it all for me. It’s an outlet that allows me to just be…maybe not the best, but it’s working for me right now.

It’s the Little Things in Life…

This weekend, we bought a new vacuum, and I couldn’t be happier! The way my family was admiring the new vacuum’s box upon arriving at home, you’d think it was a brand new car. My oldest was ohing and awing while absentmindedly rubbing the box. I couldn’t wait to get that puppy out of the box! And the baby couldn’t wait to get into the box.

Let me explain why were we were so thrilled about the new family appliance. We have an old Dirt Devil that smells to the high heavens every time you use it. When I say “smells to the high heavens”, I mean it smells like human vomit, stinky diapers, etc… It also didn’t really do such a good job…poor suction. We just want things to work properly! Any way, we’d have to be sure to vacuum at least two hours before any guests were to visit – so we could get that putrid smell out!

I will admit I was a tab bit jealous that my husband got to use our new toy first. He always gets to go first!

Last night, I vacuumed my dining room with a smile on my face, and pride in my heart.

It’s the little things in life that can make you the happiest sometimes.

Hello World

My good friend Kate inspired me to start a blog. I’ve tried the blog thing before, but never really succeeded. I’m not entirely sure if I’ll keep up with this one, or what I hope to accomplish. I don’t expect any readers, though welcome anyone who should enter. I’m not quite sure of what I will talk about? Daily experiences? Deeper thoughts and feelings? We’ll have to see where this blog takes me (if anywhere).

I’ve recently adopted the mantra, “Today is going to be a great day.” I enjoy telling my infant and daily companion (my dog) this line each morning. It helps put my mind in a positive place.

I have an incredibly inspiring colleague (who I consider a friend as well) who has taught me so much about life in such a short span of time. I wish I had met her years ago. She takes nothing for granted, and lives her life the way a life should be lived. I don’t think she knows it, but she’s really helped me to self reflect and think about what I want out of life.

I keep journals for my kids. Writing in those journals helps to stop and reflect on their lives and experiences. I can’t help but smile while I write, and think about how wonderful it will be for both of my sons to have memories stored away…before they could even remember their experiences. There are no video clips or scrapbooks of me and my sisters as kids, and it makes me sad! My oldest loves to sit down with his good ole Ma and watch old VHS videos of him in diapers.

I work from home, and every day seems the same. I’ve been really trying to look at things differently each day…to change perspective, to do things a little differently. I’m working on it.

Perhaps this blog will serve as a “journal” for me?

So today, I try something new and start a blog.

I leave you with a picture of my work-buddy (and her brother).