Five…

Me
– Pedicure with my youngest.
– Read a couple of books, for me.
– Get a facial.
– Work on my happy book.
– the Dark Shadows opening day!
– Swimming/water.
Us
– Cinco De Mayo family dinner.
– celebrate Chw’s birthday.
– our first camping trip of the summer.
– Drive in movies.
– plant flowers.
– Farmer’s markets.
– finish school {!!!!}

Heart
– writing. writing. writing.
– water front journaling.
– good, quality friend time.
– hugs and snuggles.
– be kind.
– be grateful.
– spread kindness and gratitude. 
Create
– Gen’s 13 year old photos.
– Sew a valance.
– build (possibly) an outdoor pop up kitchen.
– a new photo series. 
Home
– dinner table talking.
– new recipes and treats made with love.
– movies and popcorn on comfy sofas.
– jokes, laughter and board games.
– creative projects, together.

Health
– drink water.
– be in water.
– walk.
– massage.
– skin care. 
Love
– date night out.
– date nights in.
– talking and kissing.
– twilight walks, and holding hands. 

post signature

rainydayinalmostmay…

So yeah, it’s been a ROUGH while at our house… What better than a bullet post to count the highlights? 
– I started having these completely debilitating cluster migraines. It seems to have subsided now, which professionals oddly call “the remission period”, which freaks me out a bit more than the clustery ice-pick-stabbing head spasms do. 
– Yes, I did read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. I did like them. Sorry if that’s offensive, as it has apparently been to some. 
– In relation to the last point, I would like to point out that as a result my husband and I had a “hard limits/soft limits” discussion- and I listed my #1 hard limit to be his family. Oh. Yes. I. Did. 
– I also went and saw Blue Like Jazz, which was amazing. I think the hype it has gotten from the Sherwood pastor is EXACTLY what is wrong with the Christian church mentality, and why so many people are turned off by the idea of Christianity or being a Christian, or believing that Christians can be cool people who understand things and could be potential friends. 
– Judgement is ridiculous. 
– Genny had a raging 104 fever for two days, ended up being thrown out of one urgent care clinic (no, I’m not kidding. Cuz apparently that’s what the medical industry deems appropriate for kids with delusions and raging fevers.) and was diagnosed with Strep/Scarlet fever at another. 
– Her throat never hurt. 
– In the second ER, she sat crying in my lap begging for my hand to be against her forehead. Her head was so hot that it literally HURT to keep my palm there, and there was a red welt on my palm (which felt very much like a burn) which stayed for 3 days and still burns occasionally. Have NEVER had that happen and still it seems absurd. 
– Our beautiful Amanda graduated from Basic Training on Thursday. We couldn’t be there due to the expensive of silly things like attorneys, court fees, etc. It killed me to miss it for reasons I’ll some day talk about… It hurt us all I think. Genny the most, as she feels like she’s ruining everything… Which she isn’t. It sucks to be her, these days. 
– that being said, we are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of Amanda, and will not miss her AIT graduation in San Antonio! Somehow we’ll be there. 
– I am at the end of my rope with homeschool. It just isn’t a great fit for us. But schooling at an actual school isn’t a great fit for Gen. Next step? We’ve applied at an online school and will find out if we get in within the next couple of weeks I guess. 
– Finally got the nearly $1000 bill for my husband to get those three stitches in his leg that day he accidentally stabbed himself. I just don’t understand the medical industry at all… Until then, living in actual fear over what the scarlet fever one will be… 
– I bought my husband tickets for he and a friend to go to this ridiculous MARVEL movie Marathon this Thursday. He is so excited that last night he drempt he was the Hulk. 
– Tomorrow is May. Maybe it’s the spring all around us, (finally), or maybe it’s something else. All I know is, we’re almost done with school and I feel somewhat encouraged by life. Optimistic that we’re better for what this year has been like so far and good is yet to come… 
– My son deploys to Afghanistan soon. It was supposed to be tomorrow, but it’s now moved to Mother’s Day. 
– I got out of the house for a lovely lunch, with a girl friend, on Saturday. Got to also see a couple of movies. The Lucky One and The Five Year Engagement…  Being a BIG Segel, Blunt and Apatow fan i LOVED the second one. LOVED LOVED LOVED it… As for the first one, it was good. It was kind of an ill-timed film to see, for a mom whose kid is going off to war. I totally want to say “that aside, I loved it”, but I can’t really “that aside”. 
– While Gen was down with SF, and I was clustering here and there- i got completely sucked into the world of Downton Abbey. *SWOON* 
What’s going on with you????
post signature

On my mind…

I have a random splattering of things on my mind these days, slightly being trumped by the bill from our attorney, that arrived today. Who knew that a retainer doesn’t cover anything??? 

Sadly, I ‘m the one to raise my hand. 
Anyway… 
– HBO is on my mind a lot today. I’m beyond excited to lose myself in a weekly Judd Apatow comedy. I’m not even at all ashamed to admit it. 
– The Kings of Leon. I can not get enough of those Followill boys. I totally would have named Caleb as one of my home singers in this post, except that it’s no secret he’s a bit unstable and I don’t really want that on my plate. 
– Speaking of lyrics… It blows my mind how lyrically deaf people are. People, of course, being my husband. A certain KOL song comes on, and I mention something about the naughtiness of it’s lyrics. {I’d like to point out this is also my FAVORITE song to play on rock band- where the lyrics are on the screen…} and he pipes up with what’s so wrong about it anyway
M- um, it’s called Sex on Fire. 
C- ok. 
M- it’s about sex. 
C- it is? wow. I had no idea. 
M- it’s CALLED Sex on Fire. 
C- that doesn’t mean anything. 
M- it says…. 
C- it doesn’t say that. 
M- um, yes it does. 
C- where? 
I skip back and show him. 
C- oh. wow. 
M- see. 
C- I will never think of this song the same again. 
Um, obviously he didn’t think of it much to begin with… LOL. 
– Also, Starbucks is on my mind. Namely how they can justify their prices. I don’t indulge often, but the other day I needed a caffeine rush and Genny had $5 she was dying to buy a drink with (for her) so I hit the drive through. Holy moly, it’s a little bit ridiculous… 
– while speaking about prices of utter ridiculousness, I’ve began seeing things in regards to the price of a movie ticket. If you aren’t aware, I love going to the movies more than almost anything. (chw too. All of my kids as well.) We love the movies. SO, last week I was desperately wanting the second book (for my kindle) in a series I was reading. I examined the $9 price and sighed deeply… For a book? Seems kind of high… Then I realized that was the same price as a movie ticket. A book for the price of a ticket seemed like a bargain. It was an overwhelming moment for me… As it turned out, we had Amazon credit anyway so it all worked out- BUT even so- my perspective is currently altered. 
– We have a fundraiser dinner/auction at church tomorrow, in which we’ve invited some friends to come to. I’m excited. It will be fun. One such friend mentioned going for drinks after said dinner/auction. It feels so rebellious… 
– and too, in re: to my last bullet point, one drink sometime costs a movie ticket- which is more ridiculous than Starbucks. 
– put in THAT perspective, Starbucks suddenly seems comparable. Running a tab with your local barista won’t be nearly as weighty as the bar- AND you’ll only be guilty of talking 50 times faster and not getting naked on a table top and then throwing up your church auction/dinner all over said friends. Safer all around. 
post signature

On hatred…

Apparently I am a racist. 
I mean, when we were deciding how we’d spend our millions- should we win the lottery- I did say I’d want Juan to be our landscaper. Then again, there is this guy Juan, we know, who runs his own landscaping business… 
But still. 
I must have said it because I’m a racist. 
Yep. 
That must be it. 
Know why I must be a racist? Because I mentioned, on Facebook, that my current town of residence is like little Mexico. Sounds derogatory doesn’t it? Oh boy… 
What a complete cow I am. 
I could not possibly have meant that I live in a town with significantly more hispanic people than any other ethnicity. 
OR that your odds of getting a job dealing with the public are greatly improved if you speak spanish. 
OR that there is an authentic Mexican restaurant, taco bus or Mexican market on pretty much every corner. 
Nope… 
i certainly didn’t mean ANYTHING like that. 
The post was referring to my daughter’s over dramatic response about going into the post office. (A response she would make going into pretty much anywhere, regardless of where we were, if she was in such a dramatic mood.) 
A friend said, completely harmless, “Where does she think she is? Tijuana?” To which I comically responded with “well, have you been here before? You know it’s practically a little Mexico.” 
What followed was a ridiculous spew of hatred about how I am racist and I am raising my kid to be a narrowminded Bitch. It was ridiculous. 
And unnecessary. 
And hateful. 
And here’s what I have to say about that: 
Don’t inject hatred in someone else’s words just so you can spew hatred of your own. 
I deleted her, which is fine because we were merely old aquaintences and not friends anyway. I didn’t do that because I thought I was better than her, because I’m not. 
But my time is better spent then that. 
That’s all… 
post signature

On listing…

yesterday morning Genny asked me a probing question. Though we took hours to think on other things, her question remained at the forefront of my thoughts. 
So much so that, as we dined on salad and french bread that evening, Chw asked what was on our minds… 
Well… 
“Genny asked me a thought provoking question this morning and I think I finally know how to answer.” I began. 
“oh yeah?” he replied, while Genny’s eyes brightened. “You do? Who?” she asked… 
The question? 
What three singers (NOT bands) would you have come serenade you at home? 
My answer? 
1} Dallas Green (City & Colour) 
2} Brenden Urie (Panic at the Disco! front man)
3} Dave Matthews. (of course…) 
Chw played along with: 
1} Eminem
2} Michael Jackson
3} Dean Martin
Eclectic isn’t he? 
As for the girl who started it all: 
1} Justin Bieber
2} Selena Gomez
3} Pat Monohan (lead singer of Train) 
What about you??? 
post signature
Categories Art