Best and Worst, Part Deux

Alright. Having nourished myself with a healthy lunch of shells and cheese, taffy and Club crackers, I am ready to regroup. A list shall not have balance without it's nemesis, the other side. Luckily for me, 2010's highs far outweighed the lows. Score.

The Worst of 2010:

— All things Mariah Carey and Nick Canon, Lindsey Lohan's 14th return to rehab, and LeAnn Rhimes and that guy she cheated with. Enough already.

— The weeding of the garden. I shall resign myself to have dirty fingernails permanently as a result of gardening, all.summer.long.

— The emotional roller coaster caused by some events in my life this last year, which I may or may not elaborate on in a future post, which furthered my unhealthy knee jerk reaction toward eating and using food as a pacifier=10 pounds more that I do not want to carry around.

— On a related note, this completes my 5th year of resolving via New Years promises to lose that weight I gained from Luke's pregnancy. I don't know about you, but I figure 5 years in, you can't honestly call it baby weight anymore, can you? But, what's the alternative? Either I kick myself for failing 5 years in a row and stop trying, or I brush myself back off and try again. I will explore this weight topic more in the future. Please stand by with bated breath.

— The stresses on Rob via work continue to be very high and take a toll on him. Hopefully the circus he walks into daily around 6 p.m. is able to help take his mind off that for a while.

— Rob is closing the gap on me and starting to beat me on the very few games I still had in my corner that I could beat him at. Usually, word based games were a safe haven for me, a place I could call my own. Boggle, Scrabble, Balderdash—these were games I thought I owned. I am well aware that I am no athletic match {although I did win once at mini golf! Remember?}, but I thought I had game elsewhere. Now that he's starting to beat me at my own game, what's left for me? Ah, that's right, I still have him on Just Dance 2. Hit me with your best shot, baby.

—My full body paralysis when it comes to making a decision on choosing the photos, framing, and deciding where to hang photos around our house. I mean, WHAT IS SO HARD?

—Toegate 2010. First, the 10-15 treatments to eradicate. When all else failed, I turned to surgery. And now, the new skin has grown back, which should have made my toes all lovely but instead, they are flat as a pancake where those two toes touch in that area. So really, am I better off? Does surfboard toe look any better than where I started? I think not. As promised, I share warts and all.

—Luke's version of Dentist Speed-dating 2010. After showing our faces in 4 dental offices, I was glad to finally be able to settle and accept {sort of} the diagnosis that it appears Luke has subsisted on caramels, corn syrup and grape juice and has never met a toothbrush. So, we filled his mouth with metal that contends with P Diddy's diamond teeth and must sit resolute for another, oh, 7 years or so until those fall out. Thank the Lord that's over. And think of me next week when we have our first checkup since all of that hullabaloo.

— The sad and puzzling realization that the more free time you have to yourself, the less you accomplish. Sadly, much of us work much more efficiently when we are pressed for time and know we need to accomplish x amount of things in y amount of time. So, although 4 hours of "me" time each day has been refreshing and quiet, it doesn't mean that I am actually accomplishing more than I ever have in the past. Sigh.

So there you have it folks. Signing off on 2010 and wishing you a wonderful 2011!

Best and Worst of 2010

'Tis the season for best and worst lists, don't you think? And while it may seem a bit cliché, I have never claimed that I am above being cliché.  Indeed, cliché completes me.

Best of 2010, in no particular order:
+Long periods of harmony with the boys, which after the summer of 2010 I thought to be impossible. These days of kumbaya have given me renewed hope in the peace and prosperity of my future and for that, I am thankful.

+The success of the garden. Though I claimed that I'd be happy with a 50% turnout, the truth is I would have been a bit disappointed, so the fact that over half of the things I planted actually turned into something edible was a huge gift to me. It felt really empowering to grow my own food to feed my family. And, the first gift of my garden was one of the best signs I've ever received.

+Deciding to challenge myself physically by joining Death by Beth, the class at the healthclub 2 days a week. It's like bringing the realities of high school PE class home again without the uncomfortable naked locker episodes. When is the last time you were in a sprint contest and ran as hard and fast as you could? When is the last time you worked out so hard that you felt nauseous? I know, it was the same for me.

+Jack starting to actually love to read. Although Jack has always been a top reader skill-wise in his class, he hasn't shown a great desire to read unless it was required, until recently. The key has been finding books that he is interested in, which has been a lot of Star Wars, Scooby Doo, etc. He actually told me recently that he loved to read even more than play his DS. While the truth of this statement is questionable as he is a pleaser by nature and knows I like to hear certain things, the fact that he willingly chooses reading as his leisure activity sometimes is incredibly encouraging. This coming from the child who would go to the library and bring home a paper grocery sack full of books and read them all before they were due as often as I could when I was little. It makes my heart happy.

+Luke's success in preschool. I have been so concerned about Luke's fitting in socially in school settings which required a certain decorum, of which I had not seen Luke demonstrate yet. In fact, I went to talk to the teachers before school started just to give them a heads up about his nature and encourage them to be firm and simplistic in their requests of him to better allow him to succeed. And, the best thing has happened. They tell me that they think I was crazy and wonder why I even came in. That is exactly what I hoped might happen in the best outcome. That they wouldn't see what I was talking about at all, and wonder why I even came in ahead of time. Success=he is fitting in seamlessly in his last year of preschool and I couldn't be happier.

+Vacation 2010 Outer Banks, NC. So much fun, need I say more.

+Sledding. I realized that simply watching your children fly down those sledding hills elicits the deepest most natural laughs straight from your belly and it feels so good. Plus, I love to sled myself. There is nothing like feeling like a kid again instead of an adult with all of the laundry, dishwasher unloading and butt wiping that adulthood entails. Who wouldn't rather go sledding with your kids than do household chores? And, the best part is, this is right in our backyard. This is one of those hidden gems that I didn't even realize we'd enjoy when we bought the house.

+Date nights. We have probably done the best we've ever done since kids this year with our date nights. It helps that we were invited into a monthly card club with 11 other couples, so that pretty much guarantees one night out per month, and often, we fit in another night for the two of us. Despite the fact that we've had to take out a small home equity loan to finance all of the babysitters, it is so worth it. One of the best investments in our marriage. And that time that Rob planned it all himself for my birthday ROCKED! Heavy hints from the grandstands sweetie.

+The people and culture in Iowa has been so simple, down to earth and inclusive, allowing us to more easily build a network of friends around us than anywhere else. I've yet to meet a pretentious person from Iowa, and that is saying a lot. No focus is put on home or the amount of posessions owned, but rather on family and friends. It is real, it is easy, and it is a breath of fresh air. {Not saying I don't like a bit of wildness in my life because I do. Crazy kooky friends are equally welcome.}

+And finally, the realization that we have such a strong network of friends and family around the country that I truly feel that no matter where we would land, I would always feel that strength and stability supporting me. So, although building a life where you live with friends is so important, it is such a relief knowing that no matter where we are we always have our rocks.

Whew. Composing this list has taken me an hour and a half. And I already had it all written up. So you see the speed of my internet connection. Which will probably make my worst list. Or at least it should. But nonetheless, this has taken me way too long, and it's quite possible my children have burnt small dead spots into their corneas from the amount of Wii they've just played while I have been working on this. So, my point is, you will have to tune in later because frankly I just don't have it in me right now to add the worst list. See you later.

Do unicorns fart green mold?

Hello friends.

We are back from our Christmas jaunt to Indiana, and it was truly lovely.

It was full of baby butts, unicorn farts and all else that is magical and lovely, and I really didn't want it to end. You know how sometimes, you are sort of ready to be home after a trip and get back into your routine? Well, I really wasn't there this time. I could have used several more days and that would have been perfect. I was so needing this trip and excited for it, that it makes it that much tougher to accept that it's already over.

As I said before, this was the most fun we've had yet with the boys for Christmas. They traveled well and were so excited to celebrate 4 Christmases. Luke didn't even throw fits being the odd man out at my sister's and played happily alone much of the time. Maybe he knew he had his coming when he visited the cousins on the other side. He would happily stitch himself inside the skin of his cousins Megan and Lauren if he could. He was glued to them at all times and loved every minute of it. Today, when the boys were trying on some clothes that came from their house, he commented that they smelled like Lauren! Like I said, the boy is smitten.

Let us remember Christmas 2010 as the year of Star Wars. They got Star Wars movies, shirts, and sheets. Star Wars books, sticker books and wipe off boards. Star Wars puzzles, Legos, and figurines.  And they couldn't be happier with all of it.

Here's the annual grandkids photo:

This one's in age order...2 7's, 3 5 year olds spell trouble in the middle, and 2 2 year olds...

This garage sale find was one of the biggest gift hits...

I loved this crawl space find so much that I had to wrap it and give it  as a gag gift. I knew my brother would appreciate the pencil sketch of me done in high school. I know, I just can't give it up but it makes me laugh.

Bloated + food coma=I'm not sure which camera to look at.

Cousin photo on the other side of the family. Luke is securely fastened between his two current loves.

This is an actual photo taken by my camera. I think we have problems. I can't seem to get a clear photo anymore to save my life.

The trip home was uneventful, and we are lucky enough to have kind neighbors who plowed out the foot of snow we got while we were gone so we could actually drive up our driveway. And, just for the cherry on top, we were served breakfast in bed this morning by two small boys who strangely resembled our own. That was after an hour and a half of quiet play while we slept in. The best part of the breakfast was that the toast was covered in green mold, which they weren't concerned about thinking it was just from markers that were all over their fingers.

Ohhh, Life Is Good.

Songs I love

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, my friend Liz asked me if I'd ever heard of the People of Wal-Mart e-mails that circulate around every now and then. Then she didn't really say anything else. So I guess she was trying to tell me something. Come to think of it, I might have seen some people lurking around me with a camera. Ye shall not throw stones, right?

So I just wanted to be sure that everyone has listened to the Amy Grant Christmas CD, or is at least considering adding it to their collection.

Song 11, Agnus Dei. Oh my.

This is an incredible song. There are only two songs in my life that will bring me to my knees and make me cry every time I hear them, and this is one of them. And I suggest you listen to it loud to feel the power of it even more. I listened to it three times the other night and cried every time. And, I am not a cryer. At all.

The other song that is powerful beyond words is by Andrea Bocelli. It is also the last song on the disc, #15, Con Te Partiro and it is incredible.

The first time I heard this song was in 2001, in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. It was a dreary day in November, just a day or two after my cousin's wedding. Rob and I were walking the streets, and stopped when the fountains began spraying, and this song was playing. We listened to it and when it was over, we just looked at each other and we were both speechless. I can say it was the first time that music has moved me beyond words, it was that beautiful.

This song has taken on added symbolism for me, for tragically, a month later, my cousin was killed in a car accident driving to her honeymoon. Every time I hear this song, it takes me back to that moment and reminds me of her. However, before the song was linked to such a tragic moment the power in the song was unmistakable and I feel would have impacted me forever regardless.

What makes both of these songs similar is that they both build and build to what feels like a climax in the middle of the song, and both of their voices are so strong and powerful it is just so moving. And, as I said, the louder you listen to them, the better.

If you have never been moved by music in such a powerful way, please listen to these songs and let me know if you agree.

Crayons in the dryer

Yeah.

So, because we do a lot of sledding in these parts, thereby resulting in lots of wet coats/snowpants/hats/gloves/scarves, we often throw them in the dryer afterwards. And, because I never think to check pockets beforehand, well, we had ourselves a little rainbow in our dryer yesterday as a result.

So, as any good mother does when faced with a conundrum such as this, I googled a solution for both my dryer and the clothing. Here's what I did in case this ever happens to you. For the dryer, you run it on a hot setting for about 15 minutes to warm it up, and then use some sort of solution to wipe it out with a cloth once it's warm. I used "Awesome", but it seems you could use a variety of solutions to wipe it out once it's warm. Good as new.

The clothing mishap, however, required a cocktail which I didn't have on hand, so I had to run to my local Wal Mart to purchase some Borax and OxiClean.

I don't know about you, but do you ever leave Wal Mart feeling just a little bit dirty, like you need to take a shower? Was it the store itself,  or the fact of it being 6 days before Christmas that was causing more arms to be nearly yanked out of their shoulder sockets than you normally witness? Or daggers shot through children via Mom's eyes after her heels are run into from the shopping cart. Ok, I'll give her that one. That really pisses me off too.

And I try not to judge on this, because I am certain I have been in stores and appeared much uglier towards my children than I'd want to and not made eye contact with anyone because my kids were making me so crazy I was going to rush right home and list them on Ebay, with no reserve.

But when you are watching it happen to someone else's kid you just feel sort of, well, dirty afterwards.

Wait a minute, I didn't take a shower today. Hmm...so maybe I really just was feeling rightfully dirty. Heck, I didn't even have a bra on during this shopping escapade, so actually, I suppose I was right where I belonged.

So, long story short, I got the cocktail, which was this: roughly 1 cup each of laundry detergent, vinegar, liquid Shout, Borax and OxiClean. Use hot water, let it all soak for a few hours, and then run the load. Amazingly, it got the crayon out, and I am telling you, their coats and snowpants were covered in all colors of crayon. I was actually pretty amazed.

What did our forefathers do without Google?

Celebrations

As I uploaded my pictures tonight to share our family Christmas celebration, I realized that I haven't shared some other photos from the past month in that same category. They are all out of order because I'm too tired to get the pictures all drug around in proper order.

Here's Rob's parents celebrating their 43rd anniversary at our house last month:

Our Thanksgiving feast

Celebrating our town's Christmas

A gift from my mother in law Jean-LOVE IT! How cute is this little sled?

My birthday

Birthday gift; a set of three adorable trees. Here is little and medium.

The previously referenced Christmas cookie escapade

And finally, our Christmas celebration.

It was so much fun. I feel like are in this perfect window where the awe and wonder of it all has sunk in and the excitement almost can't be contained. I think the kids are in their prime for their ages in terms of full-on Christmas excitement and it was awesome. I LOVED watching their faces. This year, Rob had the idea that they put their heads together and agree upon an amount of their own money to spend on each other, so yesterday we loaded up and went to the Dollar Tree so they could each pick out 4 gifts for each other. One of the highlights for me was watching Jack's face watching Luke's face opening the gifts he had chosen for him. It was priceless. They were patient and thankful, and it was a memory I don't want to fade.

It was all sort of like this,

and truthfully, a lot like this.

Since my camera resides in my purse, it often switches to the wrong settings and I don't catch it before I take a picture, but honestly, this one sort of captures it all. So much build up and excitement, and it is gone in a blur.

These matching robes from Santa were a huge hit.

And after all the gifts were opened, we sort of laid down in all of it like in A Christmas Story and bathed in all of its goodness.

 I hope Christmas at your house is just as good as ours was.

Hi

I thought it was about time to check in.

This week has flown by and today, the whole family is excited to have our own family Christmas this evening. And, to add to the excitement, Santa has agreed to be a flexible fellow and is doing a flyby past our house tonight, so we can open his presents here before heading to be with family next week.

I work hard not to get too engrossed in "chores" surrounding Christmas preparation, and we do pretty well. Really, there are only 3 "have to do" things. Christmas shopping, of course, which I am notorious for finishing early because I don't like crowds, has been done. Christmas cards, which are my LEAST favorite part of Christmas but I do love to receive them, so we carry on, have been done, and lastly, Christmas cookies, which are so delicious to eat and so messy to make, have been made. We have never had a lot of other obligations or time suckers around Christmas so we generally avoid the hustle and bustle and try to sit back and take it in as much as possible, and I am so looking forward to being with family.

We have been opening a stocking gift each night to spread out the excitement. One gift was baseball cards, and when Luke saw one of the cards with this logo on it:

he yelled,

"Look Daddy, this guy plays for the PILGRIMS!"

Another morning, I was in the shower, and he came into the bathroom saying, "Mom, we have an emergency!" When I asked what it was, he said, "We're out of bananas!"

Oh Luke, you make me laugh.

One night, the boys were discussing how many kids they were going to have, and what they were going to name them. Jack decided he would have 4 kids, and name them:

• Mason
• Sarah
• Ellen
• James

I was impressed with these names. Solid, not overused, and mostly not names of anyone he even knows.

So, of course, Luke came up with his list of the 10 kids he decided he would have:

• Matalee
• Nathan Robert
• Luke
• Josim
• Corn
• Sarah
• Snowmen
• Present
• Jack Samuel
• Nathan Miller

He added middle names to the two Nathans, realizing it would be a problem trying to call for one of them and the confusion that might ensue with two of the same name. You might also guess, that as Luke lives in the moment, one of the names referenced something he was eating at the time, and several of the names were things he looked at while he came up with the list. But Matalee and Josim were all his.

Farewell Elizabeth Edwards

My heart is truly heavy learning of the passing of Elizabeth Edwards. Reading the headline last night made me gasp out loud and left me with such a sadness that I couldn't escape.


It wasn't the shock felt when Princess Diana died, for that was unexpected and tragic. This, sadly, was expected, but not so soon, and the depths of her character touch me as if I knew her personally.

I "got to know her" when I read her book, Saving Graces. She was incredibly real, down to earth, and gracious. She was graceful, passionate, and optimistic. She was funny, smart and forgiving.  And somehow, you knew all these things without her ever puffing up her chest and telling you. You could just see it.

She survived so much heartbreak in her lifetime, starting with the loss of her 16 year old son, Wade, in a car accident. Her grief from that loss was so palpable that you felt the words reach out of the book and squeeze your heart until you felt you couldn't breathe. In one passage, she explains how the grief of losing a child can come and hit you like a sledgehammer when you least expected it. She recounted a shopping trip to Target, where simply passing through the pop aisle and seeing his favorite kind wracked her with such unexpected grief she slumped to the floor in the aisle and sobbed. You cried right along with her.
And though certainly politics were a big part of her life being married to John Edwards, and sometimes the details in those parts of the book became a bit tedious and I started to skim, she as a whole really wasn't about all of that.
I didn't even vote for that ticket.

But it doesn't matter.

Her reality wasn't about politics.{Though, if she herself were on the ticket, I would have voted for her.}

It was about grace, love and forgiveness.

I mourn this loss as if she were my friend, for she had that power to speak to you as if she knew you.

If positive thoughts and optimism could have ever saved a soul, it would have been her, so I know she fought the best fight that could be fought and sadly, at only 61 years old, she lost the battle.

But I'm sure it was easier for her to go knowing she'd see that son she had lost waiting for her.

Brrr

Seriously.
Could it be any colder? And it's only early December. But it's already the kind of cold that makes me wear my fuzzy "at home socks" full time and always leave my coat on for at least an hour after arriving at my destination. So I guess I have sort of been in hibernation lately. Somehow, I can keep up on things like Kim Kardashian and Gabriel Aubry's split (I know, right? I didn't even know they were dating either!), or Mariah Carey's baby bump (Barf! She's so annoying!) but I can't keep on up all the rest. Sad, sad state of affairs. Do not sign up for People daily email updates if you are afflicted with a sickness like mine where you think you need to know these things. Really. There isn't truly room in my brain for this muck.

I saw 17 deer in a field this weekend. I don't think I have ever seen that many in one place before.

I made butternut risotto tonight. It was fantastic. I love risotto but it is pretty time consuming to make.

What's that? You asked if there was a theme to my ramblings? I didn't know that was a requirement.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my dear ol' dad today. Awww, isn't  he cute? Cheers to the eternally young at heart. Love ya Pops.

Beware of deadly flying weapons

I expected certain things when we moved into the country.

It takes me 25 minutes to get to the Super Target.
We can't get pizza delivery.
There's more bugs.
It's dustier.

However, I didn't anticipate deadly objects flying within range of my children. And, I'm not happy about it. At all.

We pulled out of the garage to go to church on Sunday and I noticed an arrow sticking straight into the ground within a foot of our driveway. Immediately, I suspected our teenager neighbor boy. Because, everyone we have met has had a story about this boy. I'm not askin', they're just offerin'. So, judge me not, but I had already judged him long before I met him. I know, it's not a Christian thing, but it's reality. The pranks he's pulled have not been lost on me, and I've heard the reason might be that he's a bit unsupervised. So, naturally, he was the first one who came to mind who might have thought it was a nifty idea to shoot bow and arrow into our range.

Sadly, it's even worse—his dad was involved in this idiotic incident. You see, they were trying to get a limb down from a tall tree, so naturally it made sense to loop a rope around an arrow, and shoot it into the air. Except, well, "one got away from us", he says. Which happens to be the one that landed a foot from our driveway, where not only our children play, but often 6 or so others as well. So the DAD was the jackwagon this time, not even the son.

I'm all fire and venom on this one. Rob assures me when he returned the arrow and inquired if it was theirs, while including where it was found, the implications of what might have happened were not lost on the father and he was very apologetic. I've considered a strongly worded note just to be sure. I mean, seriously? Shooting a bow that can take out a big deer towards our yard where small children play never struck anyone over there as maybe a bit DANGEROUS? Or idiotic? Aaaaarghhhhhhhhhhhh!

Do you ever feel you might be one of the small handful of people left in the world who was doled out a portion of common sense? God help us!