ememby

Happy Monday to you…

• I’ve put some thought into this and decided that spring daylight savings time needs to happen on a weekday. Maybe on a Friday, maybe a Thursday, not certain. Because then for at least two days I can have children who will sleep in on a weekend morning – preferably a Saturday. Instead, when it happens on Saturday night, what I get is a big rush on Sunday morning for church (which is just fine) and kids who stay up too late on Sunday night and can’t wake up on Monday morning for school and instead cry and whine because I have to turn the lights on, which means I then I have to bribe them to get them out of bed without whining (I’m not above paying for good behavior on a Monday morning if it means the WHINING will stop – which money makes happen, people – judge away, but not until you’ve walked in my shoes). And you just know that by Saturday they will be used to the time change (because it is only an hour) and they will be back to jumping out of bed at 6:15 and coming upstairs to just give me a hug. So sweet. Stupid daylight savings – though I do like it being light in the evenings (I’m fickle).
• I noted this on FB last night, but I watched a documentary on the American healthcare system (and how it is screwed up) last night on CNN. It was super interesting, not at all surprising and ultimately frustrating. Why can’t we figure out how to fix it and why do we let corporations screw things up? There are so many issues to be addressed, but we certainly need to actually be addressing them, right? Ugh. Don’t worry, I’m not about to get political, or dictate right and wrong myself, but I sure wish we could get it sorted out so people could get the care they need, at costs that make sense, delivered in the way that actually makes them better. Also, I wish more companies were like Safeway and actively promoted and incentive-ized better lifestyle choices, eating habits and workout routines. </rant>
• I did an at-home shellac manicure with Heidi last week and it is still looking awesome, this might make my life greatly improved 😉 Bless you, Heidi!
• I packed up about 10 boxes of stuff in the past week to clean out some of our normal clutter and home decor so as to make our house more appealing when we do go to sell it. Up next, tackling the toy situation in the boys’ room… it is out of control. Watch out kids, momma’s on a rampage.
• I also put together a new cabinet (in black) thing with a cute light on top of it to finish off our living room, I’m a little in love with it (plus my manicure didn’t even get a ding in the process). Despite Simon’s less than whole-hearted enthusiasm, it’s just what our living room needed to complete it. Yes, it is.
• I will be sad to sell our house – but I sure hope it does sell.
• We finished celebrating Simon’s birthday on Saturday by going out for dinner and seeing Joel McHale (Simon’s present from me – the gift that gives back to both of us, much like the time I got U2 tickets for my birthday; or Simon got DMB tickets for Father’s Day… we rock at dual gift-giving).
• I’ve never been to a live stand-up show and the comedians I’ve seen on TV are usually toned down because we have regular cable, not premium cable and therefore the swearing is mostly edited out, so I was prepared for some crassness and foul language, but also to laugh. And Joel McHale delivered on all fronts, plus made fun of Amway a bit and Grand Rapids with both our lack of actual rapids (thumb’s up us) and existence of VIDEO stores (because we are old-tymey at times).
• He also has two younger boys at home and his stories about his kids had me laughing because they are all too familiar with our own kids and then it made me question how nice I am to my kids if I have had the same thoughts about my own children that a stand-up comic says out loud for shock value and entertainment… I’m going to assume it just means I’m well-adjusted and can laugh at the absurdities of life. Yes, that’s the story we are going with.
• But the night was a success and Simon had a great time which is important since it was his birthday. And the children didn’t even swear at the babysitter, so win-win!
• I am resigned to the fact that we suck at getting homework done at our house. Liam has a research project that is due while we are in Texas so we need to do it before we leave in less than two weeks. Which means we probably should have started working on it this weekend since he has to build a shelter and write a report about said shelter (he picked a teepee). The whole project is framed to be a family project – which is smart thinking since realistically, the parents are going to be the ones making the structure with input from the kids and it lets us off the hook for feeling guilty for making the thing for our kids. Smart move, Liam’s teacher, nicely played. So I guess I know what we’ll be doing next weekend.
• After declaring himself not good at anything on Wednesday night, Liam managed to rally and “beat” his spelling test on Thursday and earn a Super Speller, which is awesome because I had sort of promised him this would happen in an effort to stop him from coming down on himself for missing a word and then had him pray about it at bedtime (he was tired and his brain stopped working – his words, not mine); love it when things actually work out how their supposed to in order to teach a life lesson and affirm faith.
• Loving this Phillip Phillips song, even though they play it on the previews for that stupid new show “Ready for Love” (we’ll ignore than transgression):

• I’m cautiously optimistic about our road trip to Texas, though I know better and know that instead I should prepare for the worst so I’m not disappointed. The boys were great two years ago and we didn’t use the DVD player at all the first day, drove into a tornado and got routed off the highway on the second day because an oil tanker overturned in the median so really, that trip could have gone way wrong and didn’t so I think our odds are good. That said, I reserve the right to anticipate horrible circumstances for the next two weeks.
• Liam’s super excited because after we get back, he finally gets to get a fish. I told him we couldn’t get one until after we got back from Texas because I wasn’t paying a pet sitter for a fish – he insisted we could just find someone on care.com (thanks marketers).
• I’m doing another detox today… I’m not nearly as thrilled about this as I could be (and I still had one cup of coffee this morning because I am not crazy), but I need a little jump start again and last time it was a success so I’m hoping this time will do it again. Plateaus suck, is my point (and vacation is coming and I will not be one of those people who does not enjoy vacation).
• My fingers are cold.
• I’m also cautiously optimistic that spring is on the way – the snow is melted and the temps hit 50 yesterday; I’m also 100% confident that it will snow again before too long, but whatevs… that’s Michigan for you.
• When I have older children and I see younger moms out at restaurants with their kids, I’m going to give them lots of encouraging smiles and compliment their children on their behavior because I love it when that happens to me… it makes my day (not that it happens a lot, but it is nice when it does). I’m also going to carry treats with me and slip them to parents who look like they are at their wits end when they are grocery shopping because that’s nice, too, and hopefully not creepy to others.
• Jack’s current favorite random phrase is, “Hola muchachos, who wants ice cream?” Of course… and I assume this is from a Nick Jr. show.