Wednesday Musings

I tried to create a cute visual image for you here but it won’t show up and I’m probably the only one who cares about it being there so I’m going to stop getting frustrated with technology, wasting my time with the graphic and procrastinating about writing this blog post and just do it already. You are welcome. And I wonder why it takes Liam 30 minutes to think of something to say in his journal at school… I believe he cames my his ability (or inability) to protrastinate naturally.

• Speaking of Liam, he’s been obsessed with heaven, who goes to heaven and good vs. evil lately, but only wants to talk about it when we are riding in the car. So we spend many car rides having theological discussions which have included the topics of:
  • Why people choose to do bad (my answer: they listen to Satan rather than God; also, the bad people he references are always ‘robbers’ so I’m sort of glad that’s the worst he can think of);
  • Do bad people go to heaven (yes, if they believe Jesus died for them on the cross);
  • Why don’t bad people do bad things in heaven like they did on earth and what happens if they do (they will only do good things in heaven because that’s all we will want to do when we are with God and we won’t be able to hear Satan’s voice there; also, on earth we have choices but in heaven we will just choose God [my kids don’t settle for an ‘I don’t know’ answer so I try my best to explain it in terms they understand without being too far off base]);
  • And then Liam spends some time determining how “bad” he is – he’s decided he is 100% good and 1% bad (we’ll work on math at a later date) and that Jack is about 50/50 (I do not argue the validity of his conclusions because it seems pointless to pinpoint exactly what percentage bad they are ;)).
• Other conversations that have been had:
  • Liam: What does radioactive mean? [we were listening to “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons]
    Me: (pulling from some ancient factoid I might have about radioactivity) When something has a chemical in it that makes it so it might explode at any minute.
    Liam: Why is that guy saying he is radioactive?
    Me: Because he is so worked up or excited about something that he’s shaking and feels like he might explode.
    Liam: I feel like I’m radioactive sometimes.
    Me: Oh yeah, when is that? (Thinking he might say when he gets mad at his brother and shakes with anger.)
    Liam: Like when I have to poop and I’m trying really hard to go.
  • [we have had previous discussions about how babies are born, I have always left it as “doctors take babies out of a special opening” and “what do you think?”]
    Liam: I don’t think the doctor reaches down the mommy’s throat and takes the baby out.
    Jack and Liam: So, how does the doctor get the baby out of a mommy’s tummy?
    Me: (sigh) Remember, the mommy has a special opening that the baby comes out of.
    Liam: But where exactly is it?
    Jack: Yeah, where is it?
    Me: (here it goes) You know how boys and girls have different private parts? Well, the baby comes out of the mommy’s private parts.
    Liam: You mean her ‘china’?
    Me: Yes
    Jack: Her ‘china,’ that’s just silly.
    Me: Indeed.
• If it weren’t for my kids or the gym next door, I’d have no fun antecdotes to share with you. Heard through the wall lately:
  • After a string of cursing and yelling that would make a big, muscled man cry, “Dammit, Debbie, just pull it together.” Poor Debbie (also comical to me, because of all the names, Debbie would have been the least likely one for me to have chosen as the person not performing)
  • “Water. Fat. Muscle. These are the only things you can gain. What are you gaining? Why would you eat salt?!” [This is now what I think of any time I go to put salt on something and then I stop myself, thank you Tom, the trainer.]
  • “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard this here before: Chicken. Fish. Egg. Beef. Tofu. Greek Yogurt. You can’t tell me there isn’t something there you would eat!? Why aren’t you eating protein every meal!?” [This made me want to go and shake the woman he was talking to because why kind of whiny adult won’t just tell her trainer that she will eat a protein and insists that there is none that she likes?]
  • Copious amounts of grunting and groaning, some cheering and swearing.
• On a related note: To the woman who was changing her clothes in front of the bathroom sink when I left the stall (please note, I leave the LARGE handicapped stall free as it is double-sized so a person can change in there and not even come close to touching the toilet) and who apologized to me for all her groaning while she was changing because she had such a killer workout (I know, I heard), I’m pretty sure that you should have been been apologizing for being undressed from the waist up while standing in a PUBLIC restroom. I mean, really, I just don’t understand people.
• On another related note: To the other woman who was actually using the handicapped stall to change in, I applaud your discretion; well, until you answered your cell phone while you were still in the stall and then proceeded to talk to who I assume to be a client from what I could hear. I’m not sorry that I flushed the toilet while you were in there because I’m quite certain that could have been a foreseen danger of answering your phone in a PUBLIC restroom and then talking for longer than 2 minutes.
• We watch E! almost every night after Simon gets home from work and they are over-promoters of their upcoming new shows and sadly they have a reality show with Ryan Lochte coming up and EVERY time I hear him say that stupid thing he says, “Jeh-yeah” or whatever, it makes me watch to punch him in the face. He is just so stupid. So stupid.
• I signed up very last minute for a parenting workshop that will meet every Tuesday night for the next six weeks. It’s called “Calm Parent: a total transformation.” And at the very least I feel like I’ll feel better knowing other people are in the same boat as I am but I am hopeful I will learn something to help me go back to how I used to be, pre-two-kids and evening single parenting.
• I spent 4 hours last weekend cleaning, sorting and packing the boys’ room in an effort to declutter. I packed many a box up and when the realtor came, her advice was to pack 50% more toys. Sigh. But my house does look fabulous and within the month we will have it on the market. (yikes)
• This weekend we paint, pack and clean some more.
• Only two more MOPS meetings for this year… sad times. But soon it will be summer and I’ll be able to have more get togethers with friends! I miss play dates, but when Liam doesn’t get out of school until 3:45 and we’re not home until 4:15 or so and then you have homework and activities (and we do the minimum for activies), it doesn’t leave much free time for friends. Hopefully next year we will live in a neighborhood and/or will be closer to school friends.
• My new favorite snack is Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with Honey – it is so delicious. I still love my Muller with honeyed apricot, but I might like this more. SO good. Try it, you’ll like it. The fruit ones are also good if you don’t like honey.
• I ordered some vitamins from Vitacost and decided to try their whey protein powder, ordering the smallest size and then found it was BOGO and it automatically added a second one to my cart for free, which was fine. Until it came and the containers are HUGE… it’s a month’s supply in each one and oh my, they are currently taking up real estate on half my stove. Simon came home and said, “What’s with the…” And I just stopped him and said, “Don’t even start.”
• We watched “The Five Year Engagement” over the weekend – it was cute and funny. We laughed out loud many times. It’s also totally predictable, but whatever.
• Our 8-year anniversary is coming up… we’re almost past the 7-year-itch thing, if you believe in that (I believe that it holds some statistical merit).
• I can’t write something without saying something about what happened in Boston on Monday, but I really don’t want to talk about it. Evil sucks. Bad people who do vile things more than suck. I wish things like this didn’t have to happen and didn’t ever happen, but they do. And so we pray and hope for something better and have confidence that good will win. That God is going to win.
• This video has been linked to multiple times in my FB feed, but in case you haven’t seen it or haven’t taken 3 minutes to watch it, please do, it’s worth the watch and the reminder. Well done, Dove!
  
• My current fave song: “Cups” by Anna Kendrick (yes, the actress) from the movie “Pitch Perfect” more fave music coming soon… maybe tomorrow 😉
  
• Worth reading:
  • Judgements on Grief by Heather Spohr
  • My friend, Kim’s trip to Haiti to see her son, Christian, again: start with Part One.
  • Common reactions to my limb difference and what I am thinking by Caitlin [also, some bad-a$$ photos on espn.com of Nick Newell, definitely someone for Jack to look up to] Thanks to the Lucky Fin Project for spreading the love.
  • Spring Break in Zion by Secret Agent Josephine (a.k.a., Brenda) Gorgeous pics and a beautiful tribute to navigating tricky waters and moving forward.