Monthly Archives: September 2011

Five Question Friday

Posted on September 16, 2011 | 10 comments

Another week comes to a close – they just don’t go any slower do they. Especially when every day you have to go through the days to come with your five-year-old. So very often we have the following conversation:
Liam: What’s going on/what are we doing tomorrow?
Me: It’s a kindergarten day…
Liam: And then after that, what?
Me: It’s a stay at home day/MOPS day/soccer practice day.
Liam: And then after that, how many days until [fill in the blank with some highly anticipated thing]?
Me: It’s one day less than what I told you yesterday OR the same as I told you 30 minutes ago…
Repeat, ad nauseum, daily. And now he’s adding holidays into the mix because he knows Halloween is coming next month, then Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Sometimes I relate time in a day to how many Nick Jr. shows it would be, e.g., if we have to leave in an hour, that’s 2 Nick Jr. shows – he seems to get this concept. But yesterday he asked, how many Nick Jr. shows it is until Halloween. And for a minute, I tried to do the math… approximately 48 Nick Jr. shows in a day x 7 days in a week x 6 (or so) weeks… then I just replied, “A lot.” Does everyone’s kid need to have an explanation of what is coming up? I feel like some kids just don’t keep track, but Liam sure does…

This weekend is a weekend he’s been asking about for a while, the boy’s football weekend. Each year, the men on my side of the family who are able, pick an out-of-town MSU football game and all go there for the weekend. The rule became, when you turn five, you get to go on the weekend and Liam is finally five so he gets to go! A mother rejoices (but I’ll really be rejoicing in three years when both boys can go – I imagine this will be the first time since I got married that I will be in my house, alone for more than a few hours). While the boys enjoy a little football fun, Jack and I are heading to my parent’s house to hang out with my mom and (hopefully) other family. I hope to sleep – these are my plans for the weekend.

1. If you had a weekly newspaper column, what would you name it?
This, that and the other thing. Because I doubt I could ever stay on one topic.

2. Who is your mentor/inspiration?
Gah… I really don’t think I have one specific person to pick for this. I don’t know what that says about me, but I just don’t. If I had opted to go into teaching (which, let’s face it, was never a remote possibility), I would pick a teacher I had for two years in middle school who I have continued to stay in touch with over the years, though not as often as I would like. Mr. Small was and ever will be the best teacher I ever had, he was also the hardest with the highest expectations and I loved that because he challenged us and demanded our respect and we loved him for it. So many teachers take the easy road or try to be a friend and not a teacher or let students get away with too much, but never Mr. Small and yet, we all ended up wanting to be his friend after we were done with his classes. Of all the classes I have taken, I have so many more memories from his two than all the rest combined and that speaks volumes to what we learned and experienced. I will have to find the story I wrote set in medieval times (he taught History and sometimes English) that I had to research and write for his class, it featured a birth scene; a birth scene written by an eighth grader which I can only imagine was super accurate. We also held an annual medieval/European fair where we featured food from around Europe and performed works from Shakespeare (the group I was in did an updated version of Hamlet where in the duel scene, an HIV-infected hypodermic needle is used instead of the poisoned sword – it was surprisingly hilarious). I could go on and on, but it’s really interesting only to those of us who were in those classes. During our senior year in high school we got the chance to honor him at a ceremony called Presentation of the Roses where we gave roses to the people in our lives who had made a positive impact – parents, teachers, mentors, etc… I forget how many of us there were, but a fair number listed Mr. Small and thinking about that moment now makes me tear up – he was/is as good as it gets. Had I ever gone into teaching, he would have been the role model I followed. It should also be noted that his wife was a pretty awesome teacher in her own right, but you don’t have the same experiences in a math class as you do in history and English (though I do recall one funny incident when I had a pretty bad, barking cough and she asked me if it was a smoker’s cough which still makes me laugh to think about since I was in seventh grade and horrified at the suggestion).

3. What is your wake up beverage of choice?
When I first wake up, I always have two glasses of water from the tap, but after that, I need coffee or Diet Coke, but most typically coffee that my lovely husband makes, unless he’s feeling passive aggressive, then I have to make it.

4. Would you wear your mom’s clothes?
If I had to, sure, but typically, not so much – she is 42 years older than me, I think it goes without saying that are tastes are somewhat different. She’ll ask me if I like something and often I’ll say, “I like it for you.” I’m a bit of a brat but too often if I say I like something, then she’ll get me something similar which I won’t end up wearing so I’ve learned to just be honest.

5. When you were a kid, did you put posters on your wall? If so, what were they of?
Oh yes. In elementary school, the posters were of kittens and puppies – all from Scholastic. Then I moved on to Kirk Cameron and New Kids on the Block. In college I had Leonardo DiCaprio from Romeo and Juliet (LOVED that movie) and an inspirational poster I got for graduation from my cousin and his wife. My roomie had a poster of a very nice house with three expensive cars in the garage that said, “Justification for higher education.” Kara, if you’re reading this, which you are not, I hated that poster but I love you!

10 Comments

Posted in Five Question Friday, Life in general

Things I Love Thursday: Using My Whole Brain

Posted on September 15, 2011 | 7 comments

Source: adsoftheworld.com via Jo2theD on Pinterest

I’ve been told (I’ll start that way so as not to appear arrogant, which I am not) that I am both a left- and a right-brain thinker. And I do know this to be true. But what got me thinking about it for this post is our speaker at my networking meeting who was one of those same types of people – able to converse with both the art and business worlds with equal skill and appreciation for what each side of the fence has to offer. I was impressed with his well-roundedness and well-spoken, at ease manner with everyone in the room and it got me thinking that those are perhaps things I overlook about myself, or under-appreciate. I take for granted that I can see the whole picture when talking with a client and understand the technical idea they are trying to communicate while being able to visualize how to best communicate that idea. For a long time, I didn’t really realize that not everyone was like this. I was often puzzled when I met people who were extremes in one direction or the other, like how was it possible they couldn’t see the other side of the proverbial coin? And sometimes I wanted to be more like one or the other, wishing I could be all artsy-fartsy, to heck with timelines and just go marching to the beat of my own drummer OR more organized and focused without falling victim to procrastination to meet a deadline. But I can’t operate in extremes – I’m a whole brain kind of gal. And I can prove it, I took an online test (totally, inarguably accurate – right), here are the results:

54% left brain | 46% right brain

To recap, right-brain = creative/artsy; left-brain = logic/math. At the office I do both graphic design and our accounting/bookkeeping. I’ve always loved math, English and art, though not the biggest fan of science (despite wanting to be a doctor until my freshman year of college). Growing up I wanted to be both an architect and a doctor and now I dream of writing a novel or a screenplay. I definitely lean a little more to the left as I value realism over fantasy. I love to read and write and I’m a list-making fool. In decision-making, I opt for a realistic solution that follows my intuition (this strong bent towards intuition often leads me to make snap decisions about whether or not I’ll like someone – this is sort of a flaw as my gutt instinct is hard to overrule, though it is often a pretty accurate indicator).

I really find it all fascinating and exhausting at the same time. Sometimes it would just be nice to only consider one aspect of a matter, rather than be influenced by everything. But for today, I’m appreciating my whole brain way of thinking and my brain in general, as long as it keeps working, I’ll be happy.*

Take the test yourself, see how it turns out for you.

This post is linked up with Jill at Diaper Diaries.

*I totally just wrote a whole post about loving my brain – sorry about that…

7 Comments

Posted in Things I Love Thursday

Random Thoughts

Posted on September 14, 2011 | 2 comments

Random thoughts, not to be confused with total brain dump… they are so very different. These are all the things that have been floating in my head that I thought, I should blog about this and never actually did, or they aren’t long enough to be a whole blog in themselves. But bullet-list them together and watch out…

Liam had is first ever soccer practice last week. Given that he’s missing his second practice and first game, the jury is still out on how this will all go. At one point, all the other kids were lined up facing one direction and Liam was standing opposite them, helping Keila with her ball. I’m quite certain this is indicative of his being one of the children who will score in the wrong goal.
After soccer practice, I was lucky enough to snag a new-to-me elliptical for a happy-to-me price. It just fit in the minivan – both boys’ seats were so far forward that Liam had to straddle my seat, but it fit and is now happily at home in our basement next to the recumbent stationary bike (it’s getting to be a regular old gym down there). Liam likes to work out on the elliptical, I like the challenge. After ten minutes on it, Liam commented, “That machine makes your face really red, mommy.”

Liam’s a great workout buddy – though a bit of a water hog (photo edited to cut out the large quantity of boxes we have stored under our basement stairs in a hoarder-eque fashion).

I decided to try the Couch to 5K program but since I don’t have a treadmill and can’t train outside without a stroller attached to me, I’m attempting it on the elliptical. This may or may not work but I did the first day and only wanted to die a little. Talk to me on weeks four and five, at least that’s what Sandy says.
After a two-week break (thanks to C’s pukies in Costco – the horror, for Sandy, not me), I got to walk with Sandy and her boys again last night – it was lovely! Our boys were only moderately whiny which made us only moderately grumpy.
Liam loves kindergarten, though I am anticipating a time when he won’t be quite so excited to be there (a.k.a., when he realizes this is a long-term gig). He told me yesterday that he has a new friend named Casey who has long hair and looks like a girl, but is a boy. I suspect that Casey might actually be a girl, but I cannot confirm this.
Does anyone else Google the parents of the kids in their child’s class? I like to know who I’m dealing with but Simon thinks this is strange. I prefer to be informed. Hopefully other people do this and if so, “Hi there, welcome to my blog!”
I’m happy to report Liam played the Wii last night and did not throw the remote at my head when I told him it was time to be done. He only got a little angry-faced but that was it. Later when I praised him for his good reaction, he said, “What I really wanted to say to you was, ‘You’re mean!'” But he didn’t so perhaps he can be trained after all.
Last night I made these No-Bake Energy Bites (which I referred to in a text as energy balls and then my 13-year-old-boy self giggled). They came recommended by Heidi, whose opinion on food I find without reproach; we are food soul mates. The energy balls are very good, if you are at my MOPS table, you’ll be getting them on Thursday morning. Enjoy. Everyone else will have to make their own. Unless you come to my house tomorrow night, in which case, I’ll make an exception (also, I won’t be home).
Jack’s developed a booger-eating habit. I do not approve of this new habit. I told him not to eat one and he responded with, “I will… I like it!” There is nothing I’ve done to cultivate this new behavior so apparently it is inherent to his personality. He’s a booger-eater. Woe. [I’m also appalled that I’ve had to use booger twice in this paragraph and now a third time. Ick.]
A new bakery opened very close to my work. They make delicious stuff. At least that’s what I’ve heard. I would not know personally. Ahem.
Tomorrow is the first program of the year for the communications/networking group of which I’m the board president, hopefully we have good turnout. Being the president of the board makes me feel old and distinguished… neither of which I am, relatively speaking.
Thursday is our first MOPS meeting of the year – I’m exponentially more excited about this meeting than I am about the one in the previous bullet. I posted of my love of MOPS here.
Also, our upstairs shower was leaking into the ceiling of our stairway – that was a bummer. But hopefully Simon has it fixed and soon he can repair the gaping hole in the ceiling, though I will miss Jack pointing to it when he goes up the stairs and saying, “Uh oh, it broke!”
And for the record – it is nearly halfway through September, how in the heck did this happen?

2 Comments

Posted in Life in general

Top Ten Things I Love About Fall

Posted on September 13, 2011 | 9 comments

Source: brightboldbeautiful.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

In no particular order, the things I love about fall:
1. Apple orchards
2. Donuts at apple orchards
3. Cider made with apples from the apple orchard.
4. Wearing jeans and sweatshirts.
5. Leaves turning color. God’s quite the show off in the autumn (at least here in Michigan).
6. Crisp, cool mornings and evenings – void of humidity (a.k.a., the bane of my existence)
7. Making things from apples at the apple orchard.
8. The general feeling of excitement about back-to-school and starting new things.
9. Work is usually busier and carries us through to Christmas – I like this because busy work = year-end bonus! And who doesn’t like money (I use it wisely and generously, never you fear).
10. ArtPrize, Fallsburg Fall Festival and Saturday mornings at the farmer’s market picking up squash and apples.

What do you love about fall?

This post is linked to Oh Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday.

9 Comments

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday

Music Monday: Tribute to America

Posted on September 12, 2011 | 3 comments

All weekend I’ve been reading people’s blog and Facebook posts about their memories of 9/11 and of course have been thinking about my own.

Like the majority of the Tuesdays for the last 10 years, I was at work on September 11, 2001. I used to come in to the office very early because I liked being the first person there – the quiet of the office gave me time to make coffee and check my personal email (these were the pre-laptop and smartphone days for me). So I’d guess I’d been at my desk close to 2 hours when my coworker got a call from a friend of hers who sounded sort of shaken up. I put the call through to her and after a few minutes made my way around to her office to see what was up (we were all nosy like that). Sherrie was already online, checking out cnn.com – which would become our tenuous connection to what was happening in our country for the next few hours, that and the radio since we didn’t have a television in the office.

We did not see the planes hit either building and for that I am so glad, because it’s shocking enough to watch it ten years later, knowing what’s going to happen. Instead we each sat at our desks, frantically refreshing our web pages, hoping for new information and reports that would tell us it was all over. I remember wondering when it was going to end and what this would mean for our country.

Another coworker came in to the office and hadn’t heard anything so I quickly told her what was happening and urged her to call her daughter who lived in NYC with her family.

We gathered in one office, sitting on the floor and listening to the radio, hearing Dan Rather’s voice crack as he reported the first tower’s collapse. I remember feeling disbelief that this was actually happening, thinking it couldn’t be real. Terrorism was brought to our doorstep in the worst, most unimaginable way. We would each steel ourselves away to call family and friends, checking our computers for more updates. I was on instant messenger with my SIL in Texas when the second tower went down. Again we wondered when it was going to end.

After that I don’t remember much. I’m pretty sure we went home early, unable to concentrate on work or think of anything else. At home we watched the news, seeing and hearing all the reports in real time, not having to wait for a website to update or for a server to allow us access to the information.

The next few days were just a blur. We were all in shock and we were so far removed from the epicenter of what happened, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be closer to what happened. My coworker’s daughter was safe, no one I knew directly was in NYC or on a plane that day. Yet, I moved through life feeling dazed, unable to compute what happen, to believe that there were people in the world so filled with hate and so driven to bring ruin that they would so these things. People die every day, natural disasters happen and kill larger numbers of people, but this was different. This was calculated and motivated by hate and so, so senseless. Pure evil.

I remember the silence of the skies overhead. Our office was fairly close to the airport and we were accustomed to hearing planes coming in for landing or taking off and for days it was quiet, aside from the fighter jets going to and from a nearby Air Force base (hearing those jets still makes me shudder). A friend got married the following weekend and it was a welcome couple days of happiness and celebration – we were all grateful to forget about the rest of the world and get wrapped up in something so joyful.

The following month friends and I planned a girl’s weekend in Chicago – a tradition of ours – and we happened to get a hotel in the shadow of the (then) Sears Tower during the Chicago Marathon weekend. We had a great time but I’d guess we were all a little freaked out when we heard a plane above us, praying the city would not be a target and that another attack wouldn’t occur.

It’s true, life goes on. We were all affected by what happened on 9/11, whether directly or indirectly, whenever we are faced with our own mortality and weakness, we can’t help but feel something – outrage, fear, worry, sadness, disbelief. A year later, I arrived at work at the same time as my coworker whose daughter lived in NYC; it was another beautiful day with clear blue skies. We got out of cars and met in the parking lot as a plane was flying overhead, having just taken off from the nearby airport and we hugged each other fiercely, both of us sobbing because despite the passage of time, those feels were still so fresh and familiar, forever connected to that day. But things continue to happen – people get married, babies are born and trips are planned – we keep living our lives with the new knowledge that things can change quickly. We survive and come back stronger, knowing what we can withstand. Because we have to have hope and faith that good will win over evil in the end; and that evil doesn’t get the last word.

The Friday after 9/11, there was a television special called America: A Tribute to Heroes that brought together celebrities and musicians in a way I hadn’t seen before – of course since then, it’s happened other times for New Orleans and Haiti. I listened to the CDs from those performances with great regularity since then because the emotion was so raw and the love so evident. Those songs helped heal the wounds I felt from 9/11, because good can be born in adversity and love does win, no matter how strong the hate. Life is hard. God is good. Heaven is certain.

There Will Come a Day | Faith Hill