Category Archives: Life in general

35 Before 35, one year down

Posted on June 27, 2012 | 3 comments

A year ago (give or take a few days), I turned 33 and I posted my 35 Before 35 list. Now that we are a year into my two-year to-do list, it seems like a good time for a recap – really to make me see what I need to accomplish in the next year and to help kick my butt into gear. (I totally said “butt” on my blog – don’t tell my kids because I wasn’t in the bathroom when I said it – you’re welcome – and I really don’t want to put soap in my mouth.)

  1. Go camping with the boys. [We’ve been thinking really hard about this one… does that count? But I have a good feeling this will get done.]
  2. Take another road trip with the family. [Planning on it for next February/March. Though we did quite a bit of driving in Australia, so that should count, right?]
  3. Start a chore chart/allowance system for the kids.
  4. Teach Liam to ride a bike. [Not yet without training wheels, but I wasn’t specific, now was I?]
  5. Read at least 20 books. [Reading books is not something I have a problem accomplishing, my problem is how I avoid everything else when I’m reading them.]
  6. Participate in a 5K – walking or running.
  7. Sell our house and move into our “forever” home.
  8. Make plans to visit Australia with the boys. [I should get double points for this one because not only did we plan it, we did it.]
  9. Go on a girl’s weekend with my friends. [Went with Tracey to Boyne last fall but have another one in the works for this fall with the larger group of Rooks’ girls – haven’t quite told my husband yet – shhhh.]
  10. Take a 2+ day trip with just Simon. [Date set for a trip to Chicago in July – I’m totally jumping the gun with crossing it off because I can; this does not mean it won’t happen.]
  11. See at least 5 live musical performances. [4/5; DMB Caravan, Sara Bareilles, Boyce Avenue, The Verve Pipe – one left and I am dying for a live musical performance – sans kids.]
  12. Teach Liam to read. [Liam is reading and I know I had a hand in it, but certainly his teacher gets more credit than me. And our satellite radio receiver, which he reads the song titles off of every time we’re in the car.
  13. Potty train Jack. [I could write a novel about how happy this makes me.]
  14. Go to ArtPrize twice. [One down, one to go.]
  15. Eat at 10 new-to-me restaurants. [10/10; Marie Catribs, Electric Cheetah, Cabana Tres Amigos, Beltline Bar, Brick Road Pizza, Flat River Grill, Leo’s, One Trick Pony, Marco’s, Crooked Goose]
  16. Take Jack to his first movie in a theater. [I sure do hope he can sit through a movie sometime in the next year, but that is questionable.]
  17. Go mini-golfing with the boys.
  18. Take the boys to a hockey game.
  19. Attempt to grow out my hair for locks of love. [Still growing… I need another 4-5 inches, I think. But my grey hairs easily prove my hair is untouched by dyes and chemicals so at least it is “virgin.”]
  20. Send at least 8 “care” packages to out-of-town friends and family. [2/8 – better start mailing things]
  21. Meet my WW’s goal (way before 35). [Initial goal, met, now need to get back in the bandwagon for the rest.]
  22. Get Jack baptised/dedicated at church. [The weekend we returned from Australia, of course.]
  23. Stay at the JW Marriott.
  24. Stay at a bed and breakfast.
  25. Visit Great Wolf Lodge.
  26. Get an hour-long massage. [I got a 20-minute one, so I guess I had better work very hard on this one.]
  27. Plant a garden. [I planted flowers – and though I believe I was intending this to mean vegetables, we’re calling it good.]
  28. Send someone flowers.
  29. Join a bible study. [We joined a small group – that’s good enough for me. (And also, awesome)]
  30. Continue writing this blog. [Again, one year down, one more to go but all indicators point to yes.]
  31. Start AND finish a quilt. [Ha, ha, ha. But I did make Halloween costumes for the boys – the only time I’ve touched the sewing machine this year.]
  32. Tackle the crazy basement once and for all. [It’s as tackled as it’s going to get.]
  33. Re-finish a piece of furniture.
  34. Get the boys sharing a room so we can reclaim a guest room/office/craft space. [Now if only they would go to sleep or stay in there quietly at bedtime.]
  35. Get vinyl flooring installed in our kitchen. [This might be the most boring thing I my list, clearly I was stretching for a 35th item.]

Well, that review made me feel so much better, though there are many big things left to accomplish. And lots of trips… here’s hoping!!!

What would you like to accomplish in the next two years?

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Posted in 35 before 35, Life in general

Five Question Friday (on Monday)

Posted on June 25, 2012 | 5 comments

Happy Monday, folks, here we are again 😉 No Music Monday post today… considering they get no comments, I don’t think it will be missed 😉 And while it’s three days late, I’m remiss in answering my five question Friday prompts so I’m going to go with that. 🙂

1. What do you keep a stock pile of?
Many, many things, thanks to a Costco membership and picky children. Fruit snacks, individual servings of apple sauce, Gogurts, fruit strips, toilet paper, re-closeable baggies and (of course) Diet Coke.

2. If Ben & Jerry asked you to invent an ice cream, what would it be?
They already made my perfect ice cream, but the discontinued it, it was From Russia with Buzz… White Russian flavored ice cream with chocolate-espresso pieces. If had to improve on it, I’d add butterscotch and salty pecans (though I prefer my pecans as a topping, rather than in the ice cream itself).

3. How do you blow off steam?
Straightening up. When I have something on my mind or am annoyed with something, I take care of my piles and clean out closest. I like the look of a straightening up house (note: I do not say CLEAN here) but just can’t maintain it day-to-day. I am not that person.

4. What would you do if you had an hour to yourself anywhere within a ten mile radius of your home…no kids, no hubby, just you?
[I’m going to avoid the obvious answer of: take a nap – no one said you couldn’t stay home.] I’d either go to a coffee shop and take a book/journal or go shopping at Target. I love being at Target without kids who spend the entire time begging for toys.

5. When you were 16, what was your curfew in the summertime?
It varied depending on who I was with and what we were planning on doing. Mostly my parents would let me tell them when I wanted to come home and we’d negotiate from there (rarely was it after midnight, usually much earlier). Seldom was I disappointed in the curfew time, you can get plenty of boyfriend make out time in before 10 p.m. and I hung out with my friends all day at school so really, as a 16-year-old, what was I missing out on? 😉

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday.

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Posted in Five Question Friday, Life in general

Instagram, week 12

Posted on June 23, 2012 | 1 comment

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One day last week, the kids spent the morning at Millennium Park with Simon playing at the splash pad and the afternoon playing at the park with me. All in 90+ degree heat and that evening they went to bed with minimal fighting and only 15 minutes of getting up to “tell me something.”

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Stef’s “stolen” baby… I like borrowing babies for an evening… makes me forget all the other stuff that goes along with a newborn, like countless middle-of-the-night feedings…

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Isn’t he just the sweetest? (And I still have the magic touch with putting babies to sleep.)

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On the sidewalk leading to my office. Who knows how this got there but I’m going to pretend it wasn’t from dog poop from Spartacus.

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The next day they were at daycare and each played outside for at least 4 hours, then bounced in is bounce house for a good hour, followed by an hour in our friends’ pool and though they didn’t fall asleep on the way home, they did go to bed immediately. So six hours of activity + 90 degree temps = no trouble at bedtime. I cannot keep up that schedule, makes me tired 😉

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Keeping with the bad-at-bedtime theme… here’s Jack, who was supposed to be in bed and asleep at least 45 minutes earlier, telling me he wasn’t tired. Clearly because he didn’t pack in hours of entertainment that day.

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But at least we get to see rainbows…

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Posted in Instagram, Life in general

Miscellany

Posted on June 21, 2012 | 4 comments

Also, another way of saying random stuff, once again…

  • For a few moments there, I could not for the life of me figure out what day of the week it was… it’s one of those weeks (or months, or lives)
  • A blogger I’ve been reading for, well, nearly six years since I started reading blogs when I was pregnant with Liam (note to others: do not read pregnancy blogs and birth stories while you are pregnant with your first child… it’s a bad idea) posted something yesterday that I cannot get out of my mind. She has a teenage daughter who has been going through some health issues and who they have had to put in a residential care facility. Mir tells her own story so much better and bravely than I could do it justice here so please go through and read what she has to say and send her love and prayers as she and her family travel down this rocky path. It’s a reminder that while we can do our very best to be good parents, life is often out of our control and our very best isn’t always good enough. While it might sound hopeless, it helps remind me to be thankful that I have someone else on my side who already knows the path and who can carry me along when I have no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going. A God who holds us tightly when we can’t hold it together ourselves. I don’t refer you to Mir to be voyeuristic but instead to share her story with the hope you will share some compassion and love, and maybe be helped along yourself by knowing her story even as it is just beginning.
  • On on a less serious note… Jack and Liam were chatting this morning on the way to daycare and Jack held up something on the tip of his finger and said, “What’s this?” Liam said it looked like a booger and then reported, “When I was younger, I used to secretly put boogers on my carseat.” Thanks for sharing, buddy. [Note to self: Wash Liam’s carseat cover with HOT water.]
  • I borrowed my friend Stef’s baby yesterday and it was such a treat to be trusted with his care and to have a baby in the house again (though it also made me realize that another baby isn’t the best idea for us since we co-single-parent so much of the time). The boys were sweet with him, though, and loved having him with us for the night. Liam kept asking me if he could get me anything while I was holding the baby and Jack offered to feed him his bottle (and also a french fry). At one point, Eli was in the bouncy chair, scrunching up his face but looking in Jack’s direction and Jack asked me, “Why is baby Eli angry at me?” Cute and a great observation…
  • I love that Liam still responds to Dora when she asks children questions… yesterday’s response was telling with regard to what Liam wants out of life. When Dora asked what everyone’s wishes were for the shooting star, Liam said (seriously), “To have a play date every day with my friends.” My boy is a social butterfly, just like his mother.
  • I helped a nearly-70-year old with some computer issues yesterday and as I was leaving, she wanted to show me some new perfume she had gotten and then insisted that I try it on myself. Perfume tastes vary greatly from person-to-person so I would never assume that everyone would like the scents that I wear and I would never try to make others try them on [yet another reason I would make a very poor department store employee] but I was stuck trying on her perfume and I still smell decidedly like an old lady. Chanel #5 is not for me [no offense if that is a scent you like, or wear, please just don’t make me try it on my person].
  • It has been over 90 for a few days, this makes me sweaty and grumpy. Thank goodness for air conditioning.
  • Jack acquired a black eye last week, which along with his missing tooth, really completes his look.
  • My husband brought me ice cream at work yesterday… which makes me wonder just a little what he did wrong that I don’t know about… I’m guessing it was think ill thoughts about me when I slept through making the kids breakfast this morning.
  • Really, I’m going to guess it’s because of something else that I’m going to admit to you now and hope you don’t hold it against me… Jack threw up at some point in his sleep Tuesday night [this has happened before with Liam – what is wrong with my kids that vomiting doesn’t wake them up?] and Simon was the one who found it and had to strip the bed, do the laundry and remake the bed because he was home and I’m guess he was slightly unkind in his thoughts toward me [I know I would be if the shoe were on the other foot]. It was very hot the day before and my kids ran around a whole lot outside and I fed them McDonald’s for dinner. Jack never acted sick or complained of his stomach feeling bad either before or after the vomit, so… [here’s the part I hope you don’t hold against me – not the feeding my kids McDonald’s] I still sent him to daycare. My kids are very resilient [e.g., no ear infections EVER, puke incidents that I can count on less than one hand, getting a tooth knocked out and still participating in the Easter egg hunt… the list goes on… and just so you don’t think I’m bragging, remember both my kids stopped napping around 2.5 and both run around non-stop from morning until night, chattering way without end (cute but loud) so I have other things to deal with which means resilient children is a small bonus] where was I when I started that parenthetical? Oh yes… my kids are resilient so I didn’t even consider keeping Jack home because if he was really sick, I would have known, instead I’m 99% certain it was a combination of heat and poor nutrition choices. Was anyone able to follow that train of thought? I hope so.
  • Liam is apparently a delicate flower when it comes to puke because he could NOT stop talking about it from when he discovered it until we got to daycare, at which point I told him that unless he was going to be throwing up, he wasn’t allowed to talk about puke again.
  • And just so I don’t have to close this post out with puke, here’s a photo of my stealth vomiteur:

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Posted in Life in general, Parenting

It’s a jungle out there

Posted on June 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but the other business in our building (along with ourselves and the gym) is a driving school. A jungle-themed driving school. We are in and out of there a lot lately because, for some odd reason, our AC is controlled by a thermostat in their space (don’t get me started on that particular subject). It’s a large space that they mostly keep dimly lit with camouflaged fabric draped down from the ceiling and black lights for ambiance (or something). It’s a little freaky to walk into in the dark. At lunch Monday, my coworker and I decided we needed some chips to go with our pulled pork sandwiches so we decided to go check out the driving school’s vending machine options. We walk into the darkened space and I’m slightly in front; as we approach the vending machine I notice an animal which causes me to jump and maybe swear.

It is, of course, just a statue of a black panther but my first thought is NOT, “That’s obviously not real because why would there be a black panther in a building in Michigan” but instead I think, “That’s an awfully small black panther.” Really, Michelle, that’s the only thing wrong with this scenario? Not that it’s not real but that it’s too small.

Also, I’d like to say that I’m glad there wasn’t a class in there at that moment for so many reasons. I’ve realized that no matter how old I am, when faced with a room full of unfamiliar teenagers, I’m always going to feel anxious. Why is that? I’m a confident business woman (who admittedly hates public speaking), who can handle herself with a room full of adults or children (not that I’m ever in a room filled with toddlers for my job) but put a room full of teenagers in front of me and I’ll say, “No thanks, I pass.” I’m quite certain I’m not at all cool enough to pull off a successful interaction with a group of teens, that’s just the truth of the matter. I’d much rather be in a room filled with smaller-than-normal black panther statues (though not squirrels – those are too disturbing).

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Posted in Life in general