Run child Run!

You ever have one of those days where if you don't get a few personal minutes of freedom (for me it would be running 5 miles or doing something to where I sweat) you feel like your chest is going to burst open, your arms are going to start flailing about and heads are going to roll? And that's the G-rated version!

Well that is me today! As of Friday last week I became a stay-at-home mom until we move (in a couple of months). And did i mention that I also took up home-schooling my children this year? Bless my dear children's hearts, they just don't know what they have gotten themselves into!!!

I am by nature naturally stubborn, red-headed, Irish, outgoing, stubborn, adventurous, constantly moving, stubborn, OCD, competitive and stubborn. I don't like to sit all day and I certainly do not like to have to repeat myself. (Go ahead and laugh at that one.)

I am going to be learning a lot about myself over the next few months and I fear my children are as well! Oh dear...

Opportunity Knocking

Weekend projects are fun! You have your list in front of you, full of the things you have wanted to get done for a few weeks (be honest... years and years) and you have finally found (set aside) the time to get them done. Nothing feels better than check marking those boxes as complete. It gives you great pleasure to sit back and look at your masterpiece (at least for your sake I hope it is) and say, "I did it!!! And it wasn't that bad. It wasn't the teeth yanking, hair pulling, mind boggling project I thought it was going to be."

Well my husband and I had that adventure this last weekend. We woke early in the morning (early in my house is 9 am on a Saturday) and set out for the day ahead. I went after a few needed items to complete some of the work and my wonderful friend Sophie accompanied me. (She loves a good project day just as much as I do.)

We are getting our home ready to put on the market and so we have to get a few things done to it. My husband got up and headed out the door, after I left, to begin his part of the adventure.

When Sophie and I returned to the fun station (my home) she left to go get some lunch and return with 2 little helpers; aka her 2 oldest children. My children were of course thrilled at this! Not only were their friends there with them, but they were sharing the workload. This makes for happy parents (since the whining is then held to a minimum).

My husband was busy trimming bushes that were as tall of the Empire State Building. (It was either trim them, or start charging a fee to view the city from the top of them. Although earning extra income would be exciting we figured it would all be lost in insurance and personnel so we decided it was best to go with trimming them.)

I began power-washing our front porch. If you have never power-washed anything, let me just say, WOW! This is an amazing experience! I had to control my urge to power-wash the entire house. I had to focus on the list and get those things accomplished first. (But the power-washer will return, hehe.)

Sophie took a closet door off it's hinges and took it to the backyard to begin the transformation. We are painting it white to match the trim ( we should be getting a medal of honor for this or something because we are getting rid of the orange tinted stain that it had been for many years). My husband brought her our brand-new (bought 2 years prior to sand and paint the doors then) electric sander. He then proceeded to the front of the house where I was still blasting away at the dirt invading my front porch and sidewalk and made this statement... "You women are always taking the mens' pride moments." I did not understand what he meant so I asked him to elaborate for me.

He then began a long and pitiful story of how I had taken both of our vehicles over the 100,000 mile mark and that he didn't get to watch the dial role over on either one of them and so on. He ended by pouting about how Sophie was getting to use his sander before he was. She was breaking it in and he had not had the opportunity to do so! She, a woman, had stripped him of this vital right as a man, just as I had done with the vehicles and other such things.

Now let me remind you... said electric sander had been purchased 2 years prior to this day and 104 weekends had passed when there had been opportunity to advance himself in the "man kingdom" and break in this tool. But is was, of course, the fault of the one who had "heard opportunity knocking" and had answered the call.

Women vs Men

I hesitate on the title of this post, but only for a moment. This is not about women being better then men, or more insightful then men, or even more logical (my husband will laugh out loud at that one) then men. It is simply about the communication women share amongst one another that men can not follow. It bears note that men have their own version of this; it's called grunting. (I know you're all picturing Tim Allen.)

Women simply do not have to complete our sentences when we are having a conversation. There are many versions of this (as there are dialects in the english language).

Example One... My sister and I can be talking about our kids and I will be sharing my abundance of wisdom in child rearing with her and she will complete all of my sentences for me... out loud... with enthusiasm... to my dear husbands dismay. (Not that he doesn't enjoy her company, it's just that she speaks very loudly.) I will of course let her do this as it makes the conversation proceed much quicker. Quicker in the sense that we have more opportunity to repeat ourselves as we women love to do! Repetition, it's good for... (annoying men) memorization, getting your point across, (annoying men) applying what you've learned .

Example Two... My dear friend Sophie and I will be sitting at the dinner table with our blessed husbands sharing what has been going on in our lives. I will be telling a story, or making a point about something, and will simply not complete my sentence/thought. (Picture 2 woman continuing on with their meal and 2 men holding their next bite in their hand, wide-eyed, mouth agape waiting for the climatic conclusion.) At this my husband will break the silence with a question, "Could you please finish what you were saying?" I will simply look at him as if he just asked me what color the sky was (duh) and say, "Sophie knows what I meant/was saying." That is because we women tend to repeat ourselves, so we can just recall a previous conversation similar to this one and complete the thought. Therefore, we can finish each others' sentences! Brilliant of us! (My husband and Sophie's husband don't think so.)

Example Three... If you are a woman reading this, you have already thought of your own. If you are a man, my apologies...

Random Blurting

Have you ever been in a room or a car enjoying some peace and quiet and then had someone blurt out the randomest (yes that's a word or at least for me it is) of words or comments? If you answer yes to this question, then you have most likely been in a room with me. Along with my D & D condition, I also tend to randomly blurt stuff. What does that look like you might ask? Well let me take you on a journey into my mind (buckle up cause there is no telling where this will lead).

Picture four young adults driving in a car heading for a weekend outing. The sky was clear blue, the air outside as thick as marshmallow cream and hotter than microwaved steamed veggies. But the air inside the vehicle was a pleasant 63 degrees and conversation had just come to a lull. Each passenger was in there own deep thoughts (or shallow, whatever the case may be) about the weekend ahead of them. The quiet settled in and the the outside landscape had become the entertainment of the individual mind.

We were headed south through the great state of Texas, and had just entered some heavy traffic. Out my passenger window I saw a blue truck with a load of randomly thrown bricks in the bed of said truck. Now my mind immediately went to my backyard project where I had laid bricks for a fire pit, and before I knew it my mouth spoke the word "Bricks!" Yes, just that single, excited, all by itself little word spoken into the silent void of the car. This, of course, broke the silence and caused laughter to belt out of the other 3 weekenders who were wanting to know where and why this random word flew out of my mouth. Of course no explanation offered by me would suffice to explain why I felt that word needed to be blurted out for all to hear. But it has since led to many moments of reflection and laughter.

It is not my only moment of random blurting but I believe you have an idea of what I am trying to convey. What am I trying to convey? Good question...?

D & D Diagnosiss

I have a health condition. There I said it! I call it D & D for short, but the actual diagnosis is termed Deepth and Depth. The condition can be quite debilitating at times and interrupt my normal life pattern and schedule, but I am trying to cope with the symptoms as best as I can. At this time there is no known cure, but there are studies being conducted to see what causes it and if there is any remedy.

It has affected my family and friends and at times my condition is so bad that they can't help but be brought to tears by it. I do all I can in and of myself to not have them bear this burden with me, but at times I have outbursts and there is nothing I can do for them or for me. They are very patient with me during these times and the bonds that we are forming because of it are indescribable!

It wasn't as noticeable in my youth, but as I mature it has taken a more frequent role in my daily life. It seems to be accentuated by lack of sleep, hectic schedules and my darling children. (Bless their hearts! They are not only witnesses to this, but are part of the cause.)

What is it exactly? It is more commonly known as blunders in speech or tongue twists. Yes, I am a language blunderer. I say things like deepth and depth when I mean to say deep and depth. I say parking spices and I mean parking spaces. I read signs as Belt-One when it is written as Beltone Hearing Aids and is pronounced Bell-Tone. I ask my husband if our cat Jazz is petting him, when I truly mean to ask if he is petting her. I have slip ups more often then I care to remember or be reminded of.

But I do have a good support group of friends and family that are there for me during these times to console and cry with me. (Although the tears are usually from laughter at my condition, I still choose to accept it as support.) It is also comforting to know that I am not in this alone. At times the condition can be contagious and it affects others around me. And when it does, I return the same love, compassion and support that I receive from them ten-fold! After all, what are friends for?!

Death on a disc

My dear husband and I started a new fitness program on Wednesday to better ourselves. I have always been extremely motivated when it comes to working out while my husband takes a more relaxed approach (meaning he watches people work out while sitting on the couch eating chips and salsa). We purchased the P90X fitness program (which we found out about while watching an infomercial in our hotel room on a weekend vacation) and read up on it and decided to make the commitment to do this.

We wanted to do this together to help keep each other motivated. My husband works the day shift while I work evenings, so we have been encouraging each other through text messages. I was extremely pumped about starting this because I love challenges and setting and reaching goals, especially when you get to see and experience the results.

Because of our different body make-ups, I am doing the lean program and he is doing the classic (which means he will soon be speaking with an Arnold Schwarskahoochie accent) while I will just be doing a lot of toning. So on today, day 3 of this blessed fitness journey, I did arms and shoulders and the ab ripper x. My chips and salsa husband had already done the ab ripper x on a previous day, and had commented/complained on the difficulty of this workout.

Let me give you a brief description of what this entails. Pain, lots and lots of pain!!! I text my husband/partner in this adventure and explained briefly what I thought of this particular exercise today. I summed it all up in one brief sentence, "The ab ripper x is the devil!" He responded with an I told you so comment of support for me and asked how did you do? Wanting to remain the motivated and encouraging partner I responded truthfully but positively. I text back that I simply curled up in a ball, rocking on the floor, sucking my thumb.

Quotas

I have the very "annoying" habit, or so I assume it is based upon family and friends responses to me, of repeating myself over and over. Now I personally do not understand how commenting briefly every once in awhile upon a subject matter can be so annoying, but apparently I am misinformed or uneducated or lack proper social skills. Whatever the case may be, it has come to the forefront of my mind due to my husbands newly acquired habit.

I will give you a brief example... My husband and I will be sitting in his office looking at some riveting article online (that I must read immediately or I will be placed upon the "you are not an informed person" list permanently) and I will casually comment that his trash needs to be emptied. He will acknowledge the comment and we will continue in the present matter of educating me for the outside world. After what seems like an eternity, I will notice the trash once more and offer a reminder that when we are done, it would be an ample opportunity for him to empty his trash. He will continue on with the conversation without acknowledgment.

Now at this point I am faced with the utmost of conflicts. Did my husband hear me and choose to ignore me, or did he not hear because he was enthralled with what he was doing online and I need to offer the bit of helpful advice once more. I will toil with this matter for quite some time. Mind you, I am not only having to pay attention to life matters that we are discussing, but I also have to make a decision on wether or not I need to help remind him about the trash (because all women know that men are completely incapable of remembering the simplest of task when they are busy solving world issues). So before too much time passes, I will make the decision that my husbands welfare is more important than my need to listen to him, and I will politely wait for a break in the conversation where I can gently remind him once more about the full trash can that is sitting next to his desk about to explode onto the floor.

This is where my husbands new habit kicks in. He then tells me that I have only reminded him about the trash 3 times in the last 25 minutes and I will have to wait until my daily quota of 10 has been met before he can empty said trash. Now this is clearly an overreaction on his part as I was only looking out for him and the welfare of his office.

But I am trying to be the bigger person in all of this and extend some grace to my husband with his newly formed sarcasm. For he will inevitably thank me one day for consistently reminding him about simple tasks that must be completed for life in this universe to continue as we know it.