8th verse, same as the first...

A little bit louder? 3 kids later, hell yeah it's louder. A little bit worse? Nope. Not at all.

Where were you at this time 8 years ago?

I, for one, had just finished making a few life-long promises.

Back then, I got a pretty ring to mark the occasion. Today, I got more jewlery. Yay.

Dh suprised me today with this:
Here's the discription: Bereshit (pronounced like Bear eh sheet) Toggle Bracelet

"Bereshit" means" in the beginning." It's the first word that appears in Torah. It's also the name of the first book which in English is Genesis. (Torah uses the first word of each book as the title). The word is sometimes used to mark new beginnings. I want that tatooed over my c-section scar (If I don't do laser removal. I either want to get rid of that thing or reclaim it).

Dh knew I wanted the bracelet, but I wasn't expecting it. So he gets bonus points. Not only did he get me an anniversary gift, but he got one I liked and one I wasn't expecting.

I'm glad I grabbed that man up 8 years ago when I had the chance. :-)

On super powers

Shhhh. I possess super powers. It's a secret. Don't tell my husband.

I can make stuff disappear.

By "stuff," I mean yummy chocolaty cookies with creamy filling and by "disappear," I mean "eat them."

Willpower is NOT, however, one of my super powers. So I don't like having junk food in the house. Dh, however, enjoys the goodness found in Oreos. On occasion, he'll buy a pack. He thinks he's clever. He puts them up on the top shelf. I'm short, so I can't reach that shelf.

NEWS FLASH: I possess the amazing ability to climb.

Our photo today has been brought to you by the letters n-u-t-s and by Kamrin.

I busted out my photoshop skills after catching up with Kamrin's latest family drama. I, too, come from a family brimming with insanity. While they have been fairly well behaved recently (and I've been trying to keep my distance from those who insist on fucking up royally every single damn chance they get), I know the frustration all too well.

And so, I decided to create that in an attempt to make Kamrin giggle.

FTR, I found the original photo here. I purposely used that shot because it appears to be staged.

I still exist & I still hate Wal-Mart.

Sorry for the absence. Things just got busy. No huge disaster or anything like that.

Although, in the midst of my busy-ness (as opposed to business), I did have "fun" while food shopping (or at least attempting to) last week. I promised you another Wal-Mart story and here it is.

Fathers' Day was that Sunday and dh HATES food shopping. We usually go on Sunday, so I decided I would take the kids on Friday while he was at work to give him a break on Fathers' Day. I walk in at Friday around 3:30. I was in the process of putting The Boy in the little seat in the cart when the power went out. Now we've been there once before when the power went out. After a few seconds, the generator kicked in. I expected that would be the case and so I went shopping.

Now there are a few things we've been meaning to buy for weeks, but we keep forgetting. This time, though, I remembered almost all of them. I even remembered a few I had forgotten that I forgot. I was so proud of myself. About 10 minutes into my shopping, though, I heard someone say the store was closing. I wasn't too concerned and kept shopping. Then a minute or two later, I heard someone else say the same thing.

So we abandoned our shopping and went on a hunt for an associate. Low and behold, I found one and asked. Sure enough, she said they couldn't get the power back on and so they were closing the store. AHHHHHHHHHH.

I was annoyed (of course that freaking happened when I was there), but not too upset. I only spent about 15 minutes in the store. I did, however, feel awful for the folks who were in line with full carts. Then a frazzled mom walked by with a cart full of formula and a crying baby. That poor hungry baby! I wondered if they'd let the mom leave cash for one container or something like that. I never did see what happened, though. She hurried past.

When we stepped outside, we realized the whole block was down. Luckily, I noticed that soon enough so that I was able to take the easiest route home (otherwise, I would have been trying to make several lefts at intersections with no power and therefore no lights). Although, I had motivated myself with the promise of the nearby Starbucks. That Starbucks was also affected by the power outage. So no coffee for me. I'm proud to say that while there was some growling involved, I did not pout.

Sometimes, the dread is more painful than answering the question.

Yesterday, I was just not in a good mood, but I was determined to make today different.

At the gym, I was too exhausted to do my usual routine. I spent a good deal of my morning moaning to my friends, "I'm just not up for this." At home, I was in a bitchy mood. It wasn't by any means an awful day, but I just wasn't feeling it.

This morning, I woke up filled with dread. I have so much to do and I'm falling behind. Then, I asked myself, "Why haven't I done these things?" In the past, there were specific reasons. Now, though, it was really just petty excuses keeping me from crossing them off my list.

So before I even got out of bed, I decided today is going to be the day I get things done. Most of those, "I really need to"s are getting done. I'm finding it takes far less effort to actually get them done than it did to dread them.

Here's a list of my accomplishments thus far:

• Got out of bed and dressed x4 (come on, when you get this done for not only yourself, but 3 little people too, that really is a big deal).
• Called in my prescrption refill (although I gave them the wrong time for pick-up, but I can deal).
• Put a table on Freecycle. This is an end table that's in great shape, but was rescued from the garbage (courtesy of my dad) years ago. It has traveled all over the country with us as the military moved us, but now it's an extra piece of unnecessary furniture. When we first decided to follow Kamrin's lead and simplify, I knew this table had to go. I knew I wanted to offer it on Freecycle, but just never did. Now it has been offered and a woman is coming to pick it up later today. Woo hoo.
• Dealt with work stuff. This has been the biggest stressor. There's paperwork I needed to fill out months ago, but never did. Today, it's done and the checks really are in the mail.
• Swept up the dining room.
• Put on the last load of laundry (I have 3 kids, a husband and animals. There really never is a "last" load, but this is the bleach load I needed to get done). That includes throwing in the sponges that have been on the front porch ever since we washed the car last week.
• Put paperwork in the lock box.
  
• Cleaned out the bags in the dining room including the old diaper bag that needed to be tossed.
  
• Pile less official paperwork on the file box. Although, that looks bad, so I'm going to take a minute right now and put it IN the box. There. Done.
• The kids did their school work (and lots of it--their choice) all on their own.
• Hugged the kids and told 'em I love them.
• Vacuumed up everything that was left on the dining room floor.
• Sorted papers that had taken up residence on the dining room table. That is my biggest hot spot. Everything piles up there.
• Put aside the papers that need to be filled out (and in the process, found the paperwork for the work bank account that I thought I lost).
• Filled the napkin holder.
• Added a new blog entry.

When I see it all listed there, it really makes me feel good. Look at all that I've gotten done.

There is, however, more to do, so let me go deal with all that. I'll be back later, though. I have yet another Wal-Mart story to share. You know my Wal-Mart stories are always good.

At what point do I start building an arc?

That is not a pond. That is not a lake. That's my garden. Well, at least it was before the rain came.

Forget 40 days and nights, it's been raining damn near forever. We get just enough of a break for people to head out and mow their insanely high lawns. Which works wonders for my allergies. sniffle. sniffle. Then the rains start again.

Yesterday, my girls asked me, "But G-d promised He wouldn't send a flood again. Has He seen our backyard?"

I reminded them that the rainbow was a sign that He would never flood the WORLD again. He made no promises about our property.

My husband, the hero

I love my husband. I love my husband. My husband rocks! I really can't say it enough. Yay for dh.

I had a stressful latter-half of the day. The boy was cranky and screaming. The girls wouldn't listen. In an attempt to shut them all the hell up and keep them distracted, we went outside where it was hot as hell. And The Boy STILL insisted on crying and whining no matter what we offered him to play with. It continued on like that into the evening. Plus my allergies have settled into my sinuses, head and throat. I was miserable.

Than dh came home from work bearing Starbucks. It was completely unexpected and exactly what I needed.

G-d bless that man!

I think Benjamin Franklin missed the mark. My husband is proof that G-d loves me and wants me to be happy.

The truth is out there.

and it's in here too.


1. I once nursed a baby on the dance floor at a wedding while dancing (and no one knew).

TRUE. The girls were 9 months old when my youngest brother got married. At one point, I was nursing one of them when they called all the couples up for that, "If you've been married 1 year, sit down down. If you've been married 5 years, sit down now..." dance where you're left with the couple who has been together the longest. Dh and I got up and danced. One of my nieces suggested I let her sister hold the baby while we danced. I said, "She's nursing," to which my niece replied, "Oh, then forget it. My sister can't do that for you."

2. On our first date, my ex (who was on probation at the time after spending time in jail for dealing) took me into NYC with a friend of his to buy a dime bag.

TRUE. When I met my ex, he was on probation after serving a 3-year sentence for dealing drugs. He was clean at the time. During our first date, his friend called and asked us to go with him into the City. We did and while there, the friend bought a dime bag. Not long after that, my ex started using again and then we were done. I recently found out that my ex-boyfriend has had at least 4 more felony charges since then including one earlier this year for (big shock) cocaine possession.


3. While I speak only 3 or 4 words of German, a paper of mine on breastfeeding was published (in German) in a national (Germany being the nation) magazine.

TRUE. My German is limited to "Good morning" and "dog farts," but a paper of mine was translated and published in German about 5 years ago. The magazine editors found it online and contacted me about publishing it in German. I still have a copy of the magazine around here somewhere. I can't read a word of it, though and I wrote it.

4. My father was 11 when my oldest brother was born.

TRUE. I can't believe no one guessed this one. I usually throw people with this bit of information. My oldest brother is from my mother's first marriage. My mother is more than a tad bit older than my dad. So yes, my father was 11 when my oldest brother was born. My father, however, was NOT my oldest brother's father.

5. One year, for Halloween, I went as dead Britney Spears (No, I'm not THAT young. I was in college at the time).

TRUE. And there's a picture of me in that costume in the yearbook from that year. This was right when Britney was still fairly new on the music scene and "Hit Me Baby One More Time" was a big hit (and drove me insane). I wore an old school uniform with the skirt rolled all the way up, put my hair in pigtails, used stage make-up to draw a bloody slash on my neck, rigged a fake knife on a headband (ala Steve Martin's arrow through the head), made my lips purple and painted my face to look pale. It was a huge hit.

6. I took piano lessons for 11 years (and 3 months) and then broke my mother's heart when I decided I'd rather be the next free-spirited (sometimes dirty-mouthed) Tori Amos than a dignified classical musician confined to an orchestra.

FALSE. I took 2 years of "keyboard" lessons when I was in band as a kid, but that's it. Although, I would love to be Tori Amos. I actually stole this idea from my former sister-in-law (she and my BIL are now divorced). I once heard her (very overbearing and horribly obnoxious) mother ranting about how her daughter trained for years to be a classical musician and in the end, decided she only wanted to play "rock music."

7. When I was 13, I could not only name every single (daytime) soap opera that had ever been on the air, but I could put them in chronological order.

TRUE. I was absolutely addicted to soap operas when I was much younger. I have an addictive personality and a love of information, so I ate up every little bit of information. I could list every soap opera in the order of which it premiered. Of course, that was long before Passions and that General Hospital spin off that didn't last very long.

8. When I was 4, I wanted to be a priest (no, not a rabbi, a priest--a CATHOLIC priest. Yes, I knew you had to be male to be a priest, but I figured it was a stupid rule so it certainly didn't apply to me. Which, I might add, should be the case with all stupid rules).

TRUE. I still vividly remember that conversation with my mother. I was in the bathtub and we were discussing what I wanted to be when I grew up. I have no clue why I wanted to be a priest, but I remember being very offended when my mother told me women couldn't be priests. FTR, The Reform Jewish movement first admitted women to the rabbinical seminary in the 60s. The Conservative movement did around 1980.

So, okay, how did you do? Did any of these really shock anyone?

One of these things is not like the other....

I'm stealing this idea from Kamrin. One of these things is not true. Which one?

1. I once nursed a baby on the dance floor at a wedding while dancing (and no one knew).

2. On our first date, my ex (who was on probation at the time after spending time in jail for dealing) took me into NYC with a friend of his to buy a dime bag.

3. While I speak only 3 or 4 words of German, a paper of mine on breastfeeding was published (in German) in a national (Germany being the nation) magazine.

4. My father was 11 when my oldest brother was born.

5. One year, for Halloween, I went as dead Britney Spears (No, I'm not THAT young. I was in college at the time).

6. I took piano lessons for 11 years (and 3 months) and then broke my mother's heart when I decided I'd rather be the next free-spirited (sometimes dirty-mouthed) Tori Amos than a dignified classical musician confined to an orchestra.

7. When I was 13, I could not only name every single (daytime) soap opera that had ever been on the air, but I could put them in chronological order.

8. When I was 4, I wanted to be a priest (no, not a rabbi, a priest--a CATHOLIC priest. Yes, I knew you had to be male to be a priest, but I figured it was a stupid rule so it certainly didn't apply to me. Which, I might add, should be the case with all stupid rules).

Straight, not narrow.

I wanted to blog about a surprising conversation I had at the gym on Friday. Before I did that, though, I wandered over to Kamrin's and saw that apparently Friday was "Blogging for LGBT Families."

Whoops, I missed that, but my post is related, so I'll just be a little late to the party. Like Kamrin, ours is not a LGBT family, but as Hillel said, "If I'm not for myself, who will be for me? If I'm only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" I'm a firm believer that Family=Love. I don't care to put limits on that. I feel the same way about marriage, but that's another rant for another day (Since when does the phrase "family values" mean denying someone else the right to be a family?).

Most of my friends at the gym are Conservative. Many are Christian Conservatives. Don't ask because even I don't know how I do it. Some days, I can't.

Friday, though, one friend really surprised me. Ellen is usually on t.v. there while we work out. One of my friends turned to me and said something like, "I love her. She's awesome. I hated that her other show was cancelled. People were pissed off because she's gay. It was funny. Who cares?"

No, that's not a mind-blowing conversation. We didn't uncover the mystery of life or anything of the sort. But I'm used to homeschool groups that send out a call to arms insisting people gather at the capitol in an effort to "save" marriage (because as our divorce rates show, we heterosexuals have done such a FABULOUS job). I'm used to reading the posts to those lists about how evil the school systems are for teaching tolerance. I'm used to reading calls for a boycott of Wal-Mart because they made one measely donation to a group that supports all families (a number of Christian groups initiated an influx of mail that made Wal-Mart vow never to do that again). True, the women at the gym aren't part of that scene, still, I was surprised to hear such a comment.

Sometimes, people can see through the rhetoric. Sometimes, people can tune out the fear-mongers. Sometimes, we really can all get along. And sometimes, I have to smile quietly to myself.

Random link Monday

Ooooohhhh, pretty pictures!

Majeak Ann

Arguing Semantics: Can/Can't

I read an article yesterday about how the idea we're taught from infancy that, "We can do anything" is a sham and sets us up for failure. The author pointed out that we need to recognize our limits. When we believe we can do anything and then we aren't able to do something, we feel as though we failed. In truth, our bodies simply may not have been capable of that task. So we need to re-examine that, "Can we fix it? Yes we can," idea.

There's nothing my kids can't do. I don't let them use the word "Can't." I've told the girls from the time they were about 2 that there's nothing they can't do with help. If they're having a difficult time with something, they are not allowed to say, "I can't do it." They are to ask for help.

I agree about being realistic in our expectations (although, sometimes, I think our expectations fall short of our capabilities). So after reading that article, there was a moment where I worried about my insistence that the kids not use the word, "Can't." I'm sticking with it, though because I've never told them they have no limits (although I try to encourage healthy well-rounded limits.). I just encourage them to ask for help rather than throwing up their hands and refusing to try.