An extra “special” anniversary

It’s the one year anniversary of a very special event here at SAHM: Surviving Assorted Home Mayhem. (Actually, I missed the mark by a few weeks but we won’t split hairs especially since Hallmark doesn’t make a card for this one.) A little over a year ago an exciting discovery was made; it seems that a very “special” person found my blog and started reading daily (and sometimes hourly!) and thus began her infamous career as my “Special Reader”. Apparently the time off work during the summer has freed up her schedule for blog reading so there’ve been a lot more visits from her these days. It’s great to know that after a whole year+ I haven’t become boring and still am able to keep my very Special Reader interested in my daily life! And why wouldn’t she be? I mean, between the cute kid photos, hilarious husband happenings and other daily amusements this is an entertaining blog! I even throw in the occasional organizing tip and recipe. Of course, I realize Special Reader may be hoping to read about more remarkable things…you know, like me admitting I buried someone in the backyard, have a huge overseas bank account or spend my non-blogging time printing money in the garage. Actually, come to think of it, she could be hoping I’ll blog more about some of my past stories…. after all that’s where all the juicy stuff is. Perhaps she’s waiting for me to elaborate on how I went from being a married Mormon mom to a divorced-single-mom-turned-lesbian-for-several-years-before-marrying-Mr. Right-and-having-another-baby. (But aren’t we all wondering about that?) Of course, when you get right down to it, she should be thanking me. Yes, that’s right, thanking me. After all, had it not been for the decisions I made many years ago, she would not have the husband and kids she has today--I opened the door for her on that one. (You’re welcome, Special Reader!) So now she has her family and gets a little glimpse into mine...lucky on both counts! I guess it’s a voyeuristic kind of thing; it’s fascinating to look into the lives of folks you have a curiosity about, whether they are a celebrity or just your husband's former wife. I’ll admit I was not quite sure what to think when I initially learned of my new reader a year ago, but then it kind of amused me. Now I find it even more amusing that Special Reader has shown the remarkable restraint in not leaving any comments this entire time! Believe me, that is restraint, let me tell you. This is a person who had to be silenced by the Bailiff in a court room because she couldn’t go without “commenting”. So, I am pretty impressed as well as shocked that she’s been able to restrain herself. But, I don’t want to make too much out of this or the next thing you know the producers of “Jerry Springer” will be contacting the both of us to do a show. (Sorry Jerry, you’ll have to wait until Oprah’s done interviewing me about the book.)

As I said a year ago, this blog is for everyone, even Special Reader and she’s welcome to just keep right on reading because, well….that’s pretty “special”.

Honey, the police are here...

This is not the thing you want to hear your spouse say when you're sitting around, minding your own business while enjoying a holiday weekend.  Mr. big, burly police officer showed up asking if we had kids and if they were ok. Apparently the police department had been getting 911 distress calls coming from an unknown number but tracing back to our house. So naturally we assumed the little guy had gotten a hold of a phone and somehow been dialing but this was not the case. After further investigation we found the source. The day before Teenager had been messing around with the settings on his cell phone and managed to lock himself out of his phone and render it inoperable. Well, inoperable except for emergency calls. He had no idea that this could happen and you know how your pants decide to call people? Well, his called the only phone number available; 911, and called it repeatedly.  Apparently police are able to track down where the number is coming from. They heard kids in the background (we were all outside playing) and came to check on us. We were naturally very surprised and apologized for the accidental calls but the police officer was very nice. We're pretty thankful to know our local police department is on top of their emergency calls...even pants calls.

Reflections on Diapers and Driver’s Licenses

I am the mother of a teenage son who now posses a Driver’s License. Good Lord help us all. Teenager took his classroom training in Driver’s Ed last summer during summer school as you may recall from this post. Although he was eligible to get his license 6 months after that we found it took considerable time to get in all the driving time requirements, complete the Behind the Wheel course (which you have to pay for) and also complete a Teen Driving Safety program with a parent. Hubby has been working diligently with him on all this over the course of the last year and when he first started going out with him for driving lessons he’d come back with eyes as big as saucers and looking a little pale. Teenager told me he’d hang onto the “chicken bar” while he sat nervously in the passenger seat. (And it’s here I should put in a public thank you to the Hubby for teaching Teenager to drive---all 50 hours-- because goodness knows I wouldn’t have made it!) So today Teenager drove solo for the very first time. He informed me just before leaving he had never been allowed/taught to back the car out of the garage. So, after instructing him on how to do this, I stood there in the garage, watching as my firstborn strapped on his seatbelt, started the ignition of the car and slowly backed out and drove off. Good grief, where has the time gone? Here he was, behind the wheel of the car, and he’s driving the thing. Wow. And yikes!

Speaking of kids growing up, the little guy is now less than two months away from turning three. How on earth can that be possible? I know I am in denial because in my mind “I just had a baby”. Okay, “I just had a baby a few months ago.” No? All right then, I had a baby exactly 34 months ago and I still have some of the baby weight. I know we have to start working diligently on potty training and I also know we have to ditch the nighttime binkie here pretty soon. But I’m having a huge crisis with all of this because at the same time he’s also going to need a bed before too much longer and so basically my diaper wearing, binkie sucking, crib sleeping baby will suddenly be wearing underwear and sleeping in a bed. Then he’ll be driving. And before you know it he’ll be off to college, never write, never call and I won’t like his girlfriend and…… I know, I know. It happens. Kids grow up-it’s inevitable. Like my Hubby says, you simply have to enjoy the stages they are in and enjoy every minute of it.

Renaissance Faire

I thought I would share a few photos from our latest Renaissance Faire adventure. Hubby decided to use his creative talents to retro-fit a wagon to house the little guy in Renaissance style. I was very impressed with the outcome!

It was also quite helpful to have Teenager to pull this thing around!

 

The wagon was painted a pretty sage green and Hubby was able to cleverly attach a bicycle basket to the back for storage (it's all about the storage for me!) He even made roll down sides to close it off for possible napping purposes. I made a cushion-ey pad for the inside and had it all set up so little guy could lay down and take a nap after lunch while we strolled around the faire. This never happened, as you might imagine. I guess I was being ridiculously optimistic!  Still though,  a great time was had by all!

Those were the days

We all know the importance of drinking water. I've been carrying around a water bottle pretty much everywhere since I learned this in Weight Watcher's for not only weight loss but general health as well.  I'm pretty good about drinking my water but there are times when I get tired of "plain 'ol water" and yearn for something a little tastier. Of course I do not want added calories and I've never been a soda drinker because to me it's just a bunch of calories I can easily avoid and use somewhere else; like good food or the occasional treat. I cannot stand diet soda or diet anything really; I think the chemical sweeteners aka "sugar substitutes" are essentially poison and we keep all those products out of our home. (I could do another whole post on that subject alone.) So lately I've discovered something new at my friendly neighborhood Target; their Archer Farms brand water with flavor. I almost passed right on by this little gem at first because if you've ever looked at those flavored waters most are either loaded with sugar or made with chemical sweetener in order to be zero calories. But this stuff is totally natural; no sugar, no artificial sweetener or artificial flavor, just a natural flavor added to the water without any type of sweetener. They have various fruit flavors like mango, passion fruit, starfruit, etc. and recently I discovered cucumber. This sounded good because I've often enjoyed water with a slice of cucumber and have noticed more places doing this these days such as the salon I get my once-in-a-blue-moon pedicure at for example. So I bought some, cracked open a cucumber flavor in the car the other day while out with the family and handed it to the hubby to taste without telling him what flavor it was. I started explaining that it was this naturally flavored water I found at Target, etc. etc. I asked him what he thought and he looked kind of confused at first, smacked his lips a couple times and then stated it had an "interesting aftertaste". I said; "Oh? What does it taste like?"  He replied; "Old hose."  Of course I instantly knew just what he meant. Back in the day, as kids playing outside on a summer day when we got thirsty we'd simply skip over to the 'ol garden hose and drink from it. Of course this was before we knew it was full of toxins and long before the days of every man, woman and child carrying around their own personal "hydration vessel".

Naturally, we now have a family joke about this stuff referring to it "hose water". Sounds like a great "retro" marketing plan; adults everywhere can relive the old familiar taste of childhood and summer. Hose water. Ah, the memories.

I know the economy is bad, but this is ridiculous

Over the last couple weeks I've had several occasions to visit a local coffee shop that I haven't frequented in the past. They've got me coming back due to a really yummy yogurt parfait that's small and low in calories--a fact that's totally unimportant to the story. First let me say this is a small place and they offer Free Wi-Fi. The first time I was there a couple weeks ago I was meeting a friend for coffee. While waiting I noticed a man, casually dressed, sitting at one of the tables. I took notice because he had one of the "good" tables that had the nice upholstered chairs, three of them to be exact, and he was taking up a spot complete with his laptop, briefcase, cell phone and other equipment actually plugged into the wall behind him. His cup of coffee was sitting on the table next to him. I thought to myself that it was a bit over-the-top for one person to take over this much room, chairs, etc, and obviously he'd decided to use the place as his own personal office complete with free Wi-Fi access. But here's the kicker folks; every time I've been there since I've seen this same guy with the same set up sitting there. And it gets worse....the last time I was in, I kid you not, I noticed his stuff sitting in his "spot" and a minute later saw him come out of the restroom carrying his bottle of contact lens solution. Frankly, I'm afraid to go back because I just know he'll come stumbling out of the men's room with a towel over his shoulder, toothbrush and razor in hand while wearing boxer shorts.

What do you get when you combine Father's Day with...

a Dad, a Teenager, and a little guy along with a fun-loving SAHM, mix in a sale at Old Navy and add a fair amount of geeky-ness?

THIS:

 

Yeah, we're pretty silly and we're not ashamed of it. Hey, you think this is something just wait until Halloween!

A Father’s Day Tribute

I’ve wanted to write this post for awhile now and thought Father’s Day would be the perfect time.

Father’s Day has been an emotional mixed bag for me personally for many years. My own father has been gone twelve years now. Sadly, I never had a very close relationship with him. He was a much older Dad and I don’t feel he was really up for doing the “Dad thing” by the time I came along in his life. He and my mother divorced when I was twelve and I didn’t see him for many years. Once I graduated high school I went to spend the summer with him. Since by this time I was more “grown up” we did have a pretty good relationship so I was thankful for that time we had together. I saw him only a handful of times after that (he would not travel to come see us) until he died. Although he did get to meet his grandson (the now Teenager) when he was only a little over a year old, he never got to meet the little guy since he came along much later in life.

Now, celebrating Father’s day has extra special meaning in our household. My husband was always described by friends and family as the “dad type”, yet he had no children. By the time he hit age 42 (just before we met) I think he’d come to the conclusion that children were just not in the cards for him. Then he marries a thirty-something year old woman with a twelve year old son. He wanted to be a parental figure in my son’s life and at the time no one knew just how important that would be. My oldest son, [whom I refer to as “Teenager” on this blog] was the unfortunate victim of not only his parents' divorce, but years of completely insane custody and court battles that ensued once his father remarried and effectively stopped being a “Dad” to him. So, the hubby decides he needs to bring his A-game and do all he can for this boy who really needs another parental figure in his life. From day one, Hubby has treated Teenager like his own son and stepped up to the plate to be an active parent. I have to give him the credit he so richly deserves for taking on this challenging but critical role and being willing to do all he does for a child not even his own. Here’s an interesting little tidbit; Teenager and Hubby share the very same first name. What an ironic coincidence. Of course, people just assume Teenager is a “Junior” and that notion has been just fine by both Teenager and Hubby.

When the little guy came along just nine and a half months after Hubby and I married, we really felt a complete-ness to our family. By this time, Hubby was already a dad, but now he had a son of his very own as well. We say he’s got one son with his name and the other one with his face. Raising the little guy thus far has been challenging for sure. Hubby comes home from work [right around the time I’m at the end of my rope] and spends quality time with his youngest son and is a fully participating Daddy. I could not do it without him. Some days I am not quite sure how I’ll even make it through the day until he gets home and I’ll be honest-- there’s been more than a few calls to his office over the years begging asking him to come home early.

As a Father’s Day tribute to my husband, I want to thank and praise him for everything he does and for all the effort he puts into parenting. He takes his Dad role seriously. I know he knows not only what a blessing it is to be a Dad but to have been given that opportunity later in life when it looked like he might not have it at all. He is determined to be the best Dad he can possibly be. He realizes from his own experiences how important it is to be an active Dad, to spend time with his kids, to try to be patient, to talk to them and really learn about and understand them as well as teach and guide and them and have meaningful conversations rather than just superficial ones. Being a Father I’m sure carries a lot of stress for a man; the heavy responsibility of providing for your family especially when you are the main breadwinner and all the other tasks and trials that go along with the job. Raising kids is tough as it is and I cannot thank my husband enough for being willing to take on the additional challenges of our situation and to have done so with such determination, understanding, courage and love.

A couple years ago Teenager gave Hubby a plaque for Father’s Day that pretty well sums it up:

"Any man can be a Father. It takes someone special to be a Dad."

Happy Father’s Day to my hubby

and to Dads everywhere

Wordless Wednesday

 

Little Guy meets the Old Navy Mannequins

 

I've made fun of the mannequins in a previous post due to their inherent creepiness. However, while on a shopping trip at my local Old Navy recently I could not resist this photo op:

 

Overheard at Costco

The hubby and I were shopping at Costco the other day picking up a few basics. We've been pretty happy with their various selections of gourmet coffee available in bags as it's generally very good and a great price as well. We overheard a man talking to his wife (loudly) while in the coffee aisle; he stated he didn't think he wanted to buy one of the varieties of bagged coffee as he wasn't sure what would be good and made the comment that he didn't want to be stuck with a bunch of coffee he didn't like. To our amusement, a couple minutes later we spotted him picking up a big can of Folger's. Apparently he's not that much of a coffee connoisseur after all.

The Mystery behind the Mayhem

A recent comment about the absence of my photo made me think about how I am probably somewhat of a mystery to those readers who don’t know me in real life. Actually, that would be the majority of my audience since there are only a very select few who know me and also know about and read this blog. On the surface SAHM: Surviving Assorted Home Mayhem may look like your average, garden variety “mommy blog”. After all, I’m a stay at home mom with two kids and daily stress, fun, humor and hilarious happenings to share with my readers. But I think what is most interesting is not so much what may be going on right at the moment (though there are plenty interesting stories to share there, too) but what has occurred in the past and led up to this point. As I’ve previously mentioned, having hit the forty year mark (which I did last year) gives me some history. It’s that history that fuels who I am and how I think and act today. I’ve been trying to figure out how to share some of these stories and weave them into this blog. It’s been challenging because a blog is usually more about current happenings than past events. But I didn’t write a blog (nor was the Internet invented) back when I went through some of my most interesting life experiences. And by “interesting” I mean; controversial, intriguing, harrowing and ridiculous. I’ve found it hard to get on a roll with this because it seems awkward somehow to post about my summer happenings one day and the next tell you about that time in the eighties when I spent the holidays in a military barracks. But I started this blog thinking it would be a good place to tell the tales that just beg to be told. Because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a Girls Night Out or at someone’s Pampered Chef/Cookie Lee/Mary Kay party and ended up being asked about that time I [fill in the blank with intriguing incident here] and had people telling me I really should write all this down/start a blog/ tell Oprah on national television/write a book. Of course I can’t guarantee that all these stories will come across as fascinating in writing as they did while telling them verbally and with wine, but we’ll see how it goes.

The “stories from the past posts” will basically be like SAHM: The Prequel. So stay tuned. Tell your friends. And link up to the blog. Because really, don’t you want to be able to say you have been reading this blog since way before the author became famous and then everyone started reading it? Of course you do.

So far this summer...

I've managed to capture in just one photo what little guy, Teenager and myself have been doing on summer break.

The Fur was Flying

There was way too much excitement around here for early on a Saturday morning. The little guy let us "sleep in" until 7am and we no sooner made it out to the kitchen when our dog Murray started barking up a storm. Now, Murray does tend to woof at various unessential things from time to time as we've heard plenty of barking when a squirrel just happened to walk by. This time he was up on the hill and staring towards our neighbors to the side of us when we saw him and he was too high up there for us to tell what was going on. So we sent Teenager up to investigate.  We couldn't tell what was going on because Teenager disappeared behind our big oak tree but we heard him asking Murray what was wrong. We then heard more barking and next saw Murray dart across the back of the hill. Just then we could clearly see that he was in hot pursuit of a Siamese cat who we assume belongs to our neighbors on the other side. I flew open the door and yelled at Murray not to eat the cat and to leave her alone. The poor cat hissed at him and took a swing with her kitty paw as Murray lost his balance while attempting to chase her down the steep and rocky hill. This gave the cat just enough time to dart through an apparent hole in our fence [that we didn't know existed] and make it safely back home.  Now, the interesting thing here is that Murray lives with a cat; his "sister" Chloe. In fact, he not only lives with her and pals around with her all day but the two of them are practically joined at the hip and even sleep snuggled up in his doghouse together. We had Chloe long before Murray came along and in fact when I brought Murray home he spent the first half hour attempting to chase and eat the cat. I was told that in order to train him I needed to tell him "No" and squirt him in the nose with a water bottle every time he went for her. I could not believe this worked, but it did. That very first day they learned to live together and tolerate each other. I have no idea when they became so tight, but it's been a long time now. So, apparently according to Murray, the rules are; "we don't eat cats who are family, but the neighbor cats are fair game".

I think we've now solved the mystery as to why Chloe never has any friends over.

Surely you’ll be seeing this on YouTube

This morning the little guy and I had to stop by his Occupational Therapist’s office to pick up a new CD for his Therapeutic Listening program. While we were there he managed to generate a hugely poopy diaper. I was able to change it there but couldn’t leave in the OT’s office trash so we took it with us thinking we’d dispose of it at the next stop. I put it in a bag in the car and headed off to Target since I needed to pick up a few things. Now the whole baby/shopping cart process is difficult enough; I have to attempt to park near enough to a cart rack so I can grab one quickly before taking little guy out of the car so I can get it loaded it with anything I need (diaper bag, store returns and in this case, a bag with a poopy diaper) as well as put on the shopping cart seat cover. So, I’d managed to throw in the stuff I needed and get the cover on the seat and parked the cart near the car trying to get it to “stay” which is always a battle. In this particular case, I lost. As I was unbuckling the little guy from his car seat I looked out the back window and saw a green seat covered shopping cart rolling by behind the car then picking up speed as it raced through the parking lot. In this moment I uttered an unfortunate phrase which I only hope little guy does not pick up or demonstrate at his next Speech Therapy session. I knew I couldn’t run after the cart real quick and leave the little guy because he was totally unbuckled at this point. So, I grabbed him quickly in one arm, my purse in the other, while attempting to sprint through the Target parking lot after a runaway cart carrying my diaper bag and a poopy diaper which has now picked up some serious speed. I have no idea how I managed to catch this thing but I did --just as it was about to hit a car which surely contained some very amused passengers. Now, if Target’s security cameras caught this scene surely this is a YouTube video waiting to happen. I’d also be surprised if the driver of the white car didn’t whip out their cell phone and try to capture this incident. I know I would have. This is blog fodder at its best right here folks. I can’t make this stuff up.

Unofficial Kick Off of Summer

Today is the last day of school, which signifies the unofficial kick off of summer. I can hardly believe it’s here already. The little guy is going to be so happy to have his brother home more! Of course, there’s bound to be abundant TT (teen ‘tude) when “there’s nothing to do”. He’s been trying to get a little job but so far no luck, poor kid. So the other night he mentions that among the various things he’d like to do this summer he wants to go to the water park with a group of friends and asks if we’d take him. Hubby told him sure we would, and we’d be happy to stay as well, Dad in his Speedo and Mom in whatever ridiculously embarrassing swimsuit-like ensemble she can find. Teenager was not amused. On a side note, I must give credit where credit is due; though no one really wants to see the “Husband sporting a Speedo look” I have to say that the Hubby has done really well at weight loss…far better than I have! I don’t know exactly what clicked for him, but he kicked his efforts into high gear and is now down by a total of around 35-ish pounds from when we started this thing. He’s pretty much eliminated his “spare tire” and I’m so proud of him! Now if only I was as successful. I’ve been in a holding pattern for a while now…you know that thing that happens when you lose and gain and lose the same exact pounds over and over again?! It’s maddening. I need something to “click” for me as well to really get past this number range I’ve been seeing week after week. So while the hubby’s pants are now falling off him, I’m still stuffing myself into the couple I’ve got that fit, lamenting the other ones in the closet I could be wearing if only I’d lose a few more pounds. Ugh. We are hoping to get motivated enough to kick up our exercise routine, add in some bike rides and stick with our morning run/walk plan. The “joke” at Weight Watcher’s is that everyone is trying to lose now to get into “bikini shape”. The irony is, even a “regular” swimsuit is about the furthest thing from my mind when I have extra weight on me…I cannot even imagine getting into a bikini! I’m pretty impressed though that Valerie Bertinelli managed this. It’s encouraging to see the “over 40” crowd lose the weight and get into shape and I am still hoping I can pull this off. At this point I’d be happy to just not have to wear shorts over a swimming suit.

New Orleans Trip... that I didn't get to go on

So, the hubby returned from his business trip safe and sound and with pictures. He brought back a hurricane glass from Pat O' Brien's in which he enjoyed a Hurricane drink.

He also enjoyed several nights of dining out including one dinner with Bananas Foster, which apparently was invented in New Orleans and just happens to be my favorite desert. I know it was a "business trip" but still...I'm totally jealous.

Featured below is a slide show from the trip. At this point I'm planning to watch the photo slide show from my outdoor lounge chair while sipping a Hurricane in the Pat O' Brien's glass...I'm calling it my "staycation".

What, me worry?

The hubby was recently getting ready to leave on a business trip, this time to New Orleans. None of us are too excited for him to leave because, well… we don’t like it when he’s gone! I’m generally the worst because I always worry. It’s just my thing. We had a hilariously ridiculous conversation prior to his leaving in which I asked about alligators. Hubby informed me that they were in the swamps and generally did not just wander around the hotels and convention centers. I told him it would be nice if he could get some pictures of the area while he was there since I’ve never been. Then I proceeded to worry about him while mentioning something about the possibility of getting mugged if he were in a dangerous area. The hubby then decided it was time to end this discussion and told me that if he got mugged by an alligator who made off with his laptop he’d be sure to snap a photo.

That crazy mom who names salads after her blog

 

If you like Oriental Chinese Asian Chicken Salad here’s one made with another Litehouse Dressing and pared down to a mere 5 WW points per serving.

The following is for a lunch size salad.

SAHM Asian Chicken Salad

• · Lettuce, any type enough to make a big salad
• · 1 T slivered almonds
• · 2 T crispy wonton strips
• · ½ c mandarin oranges- drained and rinsed
• · 3 oz canned chicken breast
• · Chopped Green onions- to taste
• · 2 T Litehouse Toasted Sesame Ginger Dressing

Toss together and enjoy!

In other news…

Just a little welcome to any new readers. Perhaps you’ve hopped on over here to read about something other than deadly viruses, ignorant beauty pageant contestants or the latest fashion choices of the first lady. My most recent tasks have included proofreading a report on the Chinese Revolution and attempting to remove the fruit bar that little guy crammed into his Chevron cars.

Apparently their cute little faces said they were hungry.

Yes, it’s quite a variety of mommy tasks—but that’s what life is like when you have a toddler and a teen at the same time.

So, when I’m not writing blog posts, journal entries or “the book” the majority of my day while the hubby is at work and teenager is at school is spent with my little darling who is in full-fledged terrible two mode. I don’t call it “Surviving Assorted Home Mayhem” for nothing.

The little guy has been doing a new therapy called Therapeutic Listening which involves listening to special CD’s through a special headset that is meant to over time help change the neurological receptors in his brain.

We can see a difference because when he’s done a 30 minute listening session because he is more focused and able to concentrate his energy on a playtime “task”. Sadly the program is not one that is paid for through his current services so it was all on us but we feel we have to bite the bullet and do whatever we possibly can to help him. The challenge with a little one with Speech Delay and Sensory Processing Disorder is that at this age it’s difficult if not impossible to tell the difference between a “terrible two” tantrum, frustration over lack of communication or a sensory seeking behavior. It makes it very difficult to know how to deal with each situation. There are times when I just have no clue how to deal with him….sometimes a Time Out seems warranted, which we’ve been doing now for a while with some success. Other times, there is just no calming him down or pleasing him. We find ourselves attempting to guess what he is wanting and running through a list of possibilities on numerous occasions. His high energy and “gets into everything” behavior makes him unlike other kids his age who are getting to the point that they can play without constant supervision. While other moms can sit nearby and let their little one play on equipment at a park, I have to literally hover over him making sure he does not do anything dangerous or doesn’t just bolt and take off. Therefore, a trip to a park is about my least favorite thing because basically I am running around the entire time and trying to navigate play equipment not made for an adult (insert “Winnie the Pooh stuck in the rabbit hole” joke here.) The little guy does seem to be picking up a little more speech though, so that’s good. In fact, a while back he barely put two words together and never said a whole sentence or phrase more than two words long. He recently learned a four word sentence and uses it spontaneously and often. It’s...

“I Love you Mommy”. Talk about making it all worthwhile.

Reflections on a life lived thus far: The happy, the crappy and the ridiculous

You know, I think at around the 40 year mark you have enough history behind you and [hopefully] enough history in front of you to be at a crossroads where you really do some serious reflection as well as looking ahead. A person can look back on their life and get a good sense of what they’ve so far accomplished, what they hope yet to accomplish and try to not regret too many of the mistakes made along the way. I’ve been thinking about all this and some really interesting things have come out of it.

Body image:

Twenty years ago I thought I had “fat thighs” and I in fact took a photo of them to remind me and motivate me to stay on track with diet and exercise. I still have that photo. I would kill to have those thighs today! They were not fat. And they did not have cellulite. Let’s just say the thighs I have today look like they ate the thighs I used to have and then asked for more. It’s not pretty. And I know I need to be comfortable with my body and understand that at forty-something I cannot have twenty-something year old thighs. But it’s still maddening to me. So, I’m still working on it. I can’t say I’ve come very far with adjusting to this.

Marriage and Relationships:

I could write pages on this one so let me try to sum it up. I did not know what I wanted in a relationship at twenty-something. I don’t think many of us do—thus a really good case for NOT marrying early (again, I could write volumes on this subject as well.) Somewhere in my thirties I figured out what I wanted in life, in a relationship and what was important to me. I figured out who I was and where I was going (or at least where I wanted to go.) I made some smart choices, mingled with some less than smart ones as well. But overall I worked this one out. This is not to say that a marriage does not require continual attention and work as it certainly does. In general, I’m thankful to be where I’m at today and to have finally figured it out for myself.

Kids:

This is an interesting one for me. I had a child pretty early in life (due to that early marriage) and really wanted more but divorce and subsequent years of being single put a damper on that. That is until many years later when I remarried and ended up creating a honeymoon baby. Though there are certainly women even older than me having babies, I felt I really pushed the envelope with this one. I felt lucky all went as well as it did and considered myself to have flown under the radar and had a healthy baby. Of course, this blessed event is not without its trials…as if children aren’t challenging enough, I have even more challenges with a special needs child. Still, I consider myself lucky overall..things could be worse. Yes, the little guy is behind on speech and he has sensory seeking issues which make him harder to deal with, but somehow I make it through the day. Like when we’re at the store and he leans over the cart and grabs something while I have my back turned for a second and I turn around and see him holding a bottle of wine he snatched from an end cap. I simply take that as a sign and have a glass of wine later. See? Everything happens for a reason.

Career:

For some odd reason I never selected a career as a teen…never had a clue really what I even wanted to do. My life continued on a course that involved an early marriage and child and putting a husband through school. Later on, I held various interesting jobs though none were what I would consider a career. I eventually settled into a stay at home mom role and as you can see, started writing about it. I have always had a passion for writing and speaking, as well as sharing life experiences. So, this is where I am today. I have lots of stories to share and between this blog and my eventual book I'll be sharing them all: the happy, the crappy and the ridiculous. Stay tuned.

Life Randomness

 

Twitter & Time Flying

I knew I would be terrible at Twitter….I was so right. The irony is when I glance over at my last “tweet” and it says how many days ago I think; “Wow, time really flies”. And it does. Apparently the older you get the faster time goes by. I am really feeling that these days. I do not know how I could have “just had a baby” who is pushing three. Three years old. And that teenager…sheesh, he’s 16 and in just two short years he’ll be graduating high school. I might add this is also the exact same time his little brother will be entering school. Now if that’s not ridiculous……..

Weight Loss & Pants

So, this weight loss thing really sucks. As does the clear fact that the older you get the more your body wants to retain extra weight. I recently went through a huge dilemma as to whether or not to buy a cheap pair of Capri pants (on sale at Old Navy for $15!) if it means buying them in the next size up while I am still attempting to lose. So far, I have not convinced myself to buy them. I keep thinking; “Just a few more pounds and I could at least fit into many of the pants I already own!” Ugh. It’s very frustrating. But I could gripe about this topic for days so I’ll leave it at that for now.

Smart Phone

Yesterday I was saved by my smart phone—I’m so glad I have this thing. After years of going the paper planner route I finally decided that I needed a PDA and phone in one. I determined this after missing an appointment entirely in which I had to pay a “no show” fee. So, yesterday afternoon while the little guy was playing with Daddy outside and Teenager was working on his homework my phone went off with a reminder; Teenager had an orthodontist appointment! Crap! I had completely forgotten about this! I had it set with the default reminder which is 15 minutes…this was just enough time to yell out the back door that I was leaving, grab the teenager and head out the door. Sadly, this was not enough time to change out of my yoga pants. I need to set the reminder just a tad earlier to avoid such calamities in the future but at least I made the appointment! Thank you Smart Phone. My apologies to all the folks in the orthodontist’s lobby who had to see me in my at-home-only “mom attire”.

Check the Linen Closet

Around here there is a not-just-occasional-occurrence in which Teenager forgets to get a towel before heading into the shower. Last night was one of those occurrences and since I'd just done a huge load of towels and didn't replace his towel in the bathroom he was caught unaware. Poor kid just assumed his towel was there. So when he hopped out of the shower dripping wet and discovered its absence we heard him calling pathetically from the other room. Dad went and rescued him by handing him a towel through the door but not without a few words about making sure he had a towel first. Later, we were all treated to one of Hubby's stories from back in the day. It seems he once worked with a guy (we'll call him Ted) who also forgot to get a towel before his shower. Ted remembered his roommate Bob had done laundry earlier and all the towels were likely in the dryer. Ted, wet and naked, headed out to the garage where the washer and dryer were. As he approached the dryer, the door to the house closed and locked. It was at this moment Ted discovered an empty dryer because apparently Bob had taken the clean towels in the house but they hadn't yet made it to the bathroom. So, Ted was locked out the house, wet, naked and with no towel. And it was winter. At this point in the story the hubby described Ted's efforts to keep warm by rigging the dryer to run with the door open while he stood in front of it waiting for Bob to come home. I can only imagine the horror Bob must have felt upon his arrival and watching as that garage door opened up.

I am also very grateful we do not have our laundry room in the garage.

Fractured Fairytales

Awhile back I wrote about the hubby reading bedtime stories to the little guy. Lately I've been paying closer attention to the stories over the baby monitor and have been cracking up listening to him. Apparently, he's been doing some serious paraphrasing and ad-libbing with the classics.

From Cinderella:

"Cinderella had two ugly stepsisters...and boy were they ugly."

"Cinderella had a great time dancing with the Prince at the Ball, but she heard the clock strike midnight and had to hurry home because her dress was a rental."

 

From Winnie the Pooh:

"Pooh got himself stuck in Rabbit's hole so Rabbit painted a face on Pooh's bum, but it didn't seem to help any."

I can't wait 'till the little guy learns to read. Daddy's going to have a lot of explaining to do!

No one ever had this much fun recycling

So it's just another Friday night in our household. Before we whipped out the camera I had built my own creation similar to this, yet not quite as spectacular. Then Hubby comes by and bets me he can yank out the pizza box without knocking the whole thing down. Hilarity ensued. A mess followed. Then he builds this and naturally I have to have it photographed because, well, it's a blog post just waiting to happen. And there you have it folks.

Also, we really need to bring back date night.