Bye Bye, Piper :(

It's been a bittersweet couple of days. We decided months ago that it was time to find our beloved dog, Piper, a new home. She and R got along famously when R was itty bitty. But once he got mobile, Piper did not adjust well. She started to growl at him and even snapped at him.

I loved Piper, but I love my son more. Piper is lucky I didn't murder her that day.

Ever since then, we've had to keep dog and kid separated. That's not easy with a dog who just loves to be around people (or with a relatively open floor plan). When she was outside (if the weather wasn't crummy), she'd scratch at the door and bark to come in. When we had to confine her to the upstairs (using a baby gate), she'd bark or whine and, sometimes, flatten herself to squeeze under the gate.

Because our problem with her was that she wasn't good with young children, we had quite a time trying to find someone we knew who was willing to take her. Practically everyone we know has small children (or will have them soon enough).

We finally resorted to putting an ad in the paper Saturday. Saturday morning at 8:59, my phone rang. I couldn't believe we were already getting calls. The guy sounded really nice and asked all the right questions. So, we arranged for him to come by at 10:00 to meet Piper.

I hauled it upstairs to bathe her (and myself) before her prospective new daddy arrived.

He turned out to be a very nice gentleman who lives relatively nearby. He and his wife are older and have an empty house (and grandchildren in their double-digit years). He took her for a weekend trial.

I got a call this morning that Piper was doing great and that they'd like to come get the rest of her things. Jason requested that I arrange that while he wasn't home so that he wouldn't have to see all her things go away.

As much as I've been irritated with that dog lately, I found myself really sad to see her things go as well. When I sent Piper's new daddy off with Piper's toys, treats, food and extra bed, I had to hold back tears. He tried to pay me for all of her things, but I wouldn't let him. They're doing us a huge favor, so I'd like to return that favor by starting them out with a nice care package for our sweet girl dog.

He was sweet enough to say we are welcome to call if we'd ever like to come visit Piper. We might just do that.

California Closets to the Rescue!

When we moved into this house a little more than six years ago, we had California Closets come in to do a couple of big projects for us. One was to deck out our master bedroom closet (LOVE IT), and the other was to build an office for us.

At the time, Jason and I both had desktop computers (what are those?) and needed homes for them. We spent a lot of time in that room and used the office well. Well...that is until we both got with the times and bought laptops several years ago.

Since then, the room we dedicated to be the office has become a home for stuff...and a place where we sit every now and then to hook up to the printer.

Fast forward to July 2011. We found out that Baby #2 was on the way, and we immediately realized she would need a space of her own. I wanted to make sure she didn't get the shaft as second child. I didn't want it to seem like we just shoved her in the office, which is the room we selected to become hers.

So, once we found out that she is, indeed, a girl, we needed to put a plan into motion. (If she had been a boy, we might have put her in R's current room and reworked the office in a different way to be his new room.) A couple of weeks ago, I called California Closets to get an estimate on moving the built-in stuff. I just wanted a baseline so that we could run numbers and bounce ideas around.

Well, when he told me it would only be about $100-150 to do the work, I went ahead and scheduled a date for the move.

That date was today. Last night, as we were cleaning off all of our shelves so that the office would be fit to move. Jason decided to do some last minute measuring and realized that our desk piece wasn't going to be able to go where we wanted it...because it wouldn't leave room for the attic stairs to pull down.

BLAST! Why didn't I realize that sooner???

I sat on the couch and cried last night. I was so hoping for today to be the day that would get the ball rolling toward getting baby girl's room started. 

So, when the guys from California Closets showed up this morning, I was dreading telling them that they came for no reason. And I was furiously brainstorming other ideas for how to move/salvage/rearrange the office pieces and make baby girl's room just perfect.

There were other snags too, but that was the most major, project-ending snag.

The guys showed up and I took them upstairs to the scene of the disaster. They whipped out their measuring tape and...and...voila! It turns out Jason's measurements were off! That's the most I've ever rejoiced in Jason being wrong! :)

So, they moved the office pieces, made a few minor adjustments to make it all fit the new space, and now we have a relocated office and a blank (albeit messy) canvas for a new nursery!

Now we're well on our way to carving out a place in our house specifically for baby girl. And I'll have somewhere to put all of her things...which right now consist of a onesie, a hoodie and one diaper. :)

R and I holed up in his room 

(across from the office) to watch the progress.

The repurposed office, now in the hallway!

Would you care to take a guess where the 

cut-out for Jason's chair was in the old office?

Operation Christmas Child: Mission Complete

I set a goal almost a year ago that I would try to fill 24 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes this year. Mission Complete. I dropped the boxes off at church on Friday before we left town for homecoming.

I didn't do as great of a job buying items for my boxes throughout the year as I'd hoped. But that's where I am going to learn from my "mistakes" and do better next year. One thing that's not a mistake: 24 children will feel the love of Jesus and hear the gospel message because of those 24 boxes.

At least I did do a good job of setting aside the money for shipping ($7 per box) throughout the year. That will kill you if you don't accumulate it gradually. I just put a $20 bill in an envelope about once a month. And, because of experience in prior years, I decided to get a money order for my box total ($168) instead of depositing the money and writing a check. Why? Because, in years past, my check sat in one of the shoeboxes for a couple of weeks before it ever got deposited. I didn't want to forget I'd spent $168 and then later have it disappear from my account!

Twenty-four turned out to be a perfect number. A lot of the items that I bought in bulk were sold in quantities of 8 or 12...which meant I'd have the exact right number if I bought either two or three packs of whatever the item was.

I bought my boxes early in the year and a few other items as I came across them or as I knew they would be on sale (i.e. crayons for 25 cents a box at back-to-school time). I need to do a better job next year of hitting up the sales in the days and week following holidays: Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, Back-to-School, Halloween (usually where I get some of my biggest scores), Thanksgiving (which means THIS year) and Christmas (also this year). Shoot...I might even get some deals after New Year's Eve and some of the other "minor" holidays.

I also might take a closer look at my Oriental Trading Company purchases before making them next year. I bought several bulk items from there, because they are super inexpensive. The only problem is, they're also very cheap (low-quality) and tiny.

To the best of my recollection, here's what went into my boxes this year (12 boy boxes and 12 girl boxes).

• Coloring books (Oriental Trading)
• 24-packs of crayons (Target - on sale for 25 cents a piece during back-to-school)
• Washcloths (Target)
• Plastic whistles (Target - party favors aisle)
• Novelty sunglasses (Target - party favors aisle)
• Mini pinball games (Oriental Trading)
• Plastic mugs (Oriental Trading)
• Mini Play-Doh (Target - bags of 20 on sale after Halloween)
• Mini paddleball games (Oriental Trading)
• Spinning tops (Oriental Trading)
• Matchbox cars (Dollar General or Big Lots - boys' boxes only)
• Suckers & gum (Target - on sale after Halloween)
• Hair bows and clips (Big Lots - girls' boxes only)
• Combs (Big Lots - girls' boxes only)
• Nail polish (Dollar General - girls' boxes only)
• Stuffed animals (We donated about a dozen from Rylan's basket of untouched stuffed animals, and I bought the other dozen at Dollar General)
• Bars of soap (Costco)
• Pencils (Dollar General)
• Toothbrushes (Donated by Jason's dentist)
• Toothpaste (Donated by Trey's dentist)
• Notepads (Big Lots)
• Mini spiral notebooks (Dollar General)
• Tennis balls (Target)
• Sidewalk chalk (Target, I think. I bought two big boxes and divided the chalk into Ziplock bags)
• Mini yo-yos (Oriental Trading)
• Mini beach balls (Oriental Trading)
• Finger skateboards (Big Lots - boys' boxes only)
• Kaleidoscopes (Dollar General)

That's all I can remember. I'm sure there were probably a couple more items I can't recall. But, I wanted to put that all down in writing to help me with my shopping for next year!

I think I'm going to set the same goal for myself for next year, but I will strive to do a better job of buying more earlier in the year instead of going on a buying frenzy the last few weeks before boxes came due. If I change it up at all, it might be to throw in a couple of boxes for the two age groups I didn't touch. All of my boxes were the 5-9 age group, which I'm assuming is probably the most popular. Maybe next year I'll pick up a couple of 2-4 year-old boxes or a box or two for the 10-14 age group.

Making Room for Baby

It's so hard to believe that I'm 22 weeks into this journey. In some ways, it feels like it's been ages since I saw that + on the pregnancy test. In other ways, it feels surreal and like it never even happened. And, yet, in other ways, it feels like it was yesterday.

But, 22 weeks in...

That means I have roughly 18 weeks left. Now that is a little shocking. And when you factor in Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm sure a nice chunk of that time is just going to fly right by.

We have a lot yet to do. But, one thing I learned from my experience with our first child is this: it doesn't all have to be done by the time baby arrives. Shoot...we could have easily survived our first six weeks with R if we only had a few outfits, diapers, wipes, the Boppy and the pack 'n' play.

On the same token, I know I won't have the time or the energy to do the big stuff after she arrives. I certainly don't plan on painting while juggling a newborn and a toddler. Shoot no! That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about getting done before she arrives.

We know what room will become the nursery, and it's going to be a massive undertaking. Why? Well, because it's currently our office. And offices are notorious for becoming dumping grounds. There's a lot of STUFF in there. I'm kind of excited about the idea that we are being forced to clean some of it out. I'll bet we find some things we didn't even know we had. And we'll find some things we forgot we had (which means they can probably go away).

The cleaning is going to be the biggest challenge. And we're on a deadline. No, not an 18-week deadline...a one-week deadline. Our office isn't just a bunch of stuff thrown on/in a desk or two. We had California Closets build in a custom office six years ago. And it's got to move, because I'm not going to make my baby girl feel like an afterthought by sticking her into an office. Plus, we don't have anywhere else to store that "stuff." Hence the deadline. California Closets will be here in a week, and we need to have everything unloaded from the cabinets and desk drawers so it can move. Oh the joy!

And once that's done, I feel like I'll be able to start really thinking about bedding (which has already been quite the search), colors, paint, decor, etc. I'm most excited that we'll have a place to designate as "hers." Right now, everything this poor child can call her own is stacked on my dresser. It consists of a onesie and a tiny polka dotted hoodie. But at least it'll have a home after the office moves out. :)

Snapshots from my Mind

The following tidbits have nothing in common, except for the fact that they're floating around in my head right now.

1. I know they're not good for me, but I love Ramen Noodles. Chicken flavor. 
2. My trip to Venezuela was awesome. I would love to blog about it, but I don't even know where to start. Simple summary: God is good.
3. My child has absolutely no problem with hydration. Or pooping.
4. It's a girl. :)
5. I made a cake last night. It's yummy.
6. I've started working on my Christmas card list for this year. I'm proud that I've begun already. I'm sad, because there are several Mr. & Mrs. cards that will only be going to Mr. or Ms. this year. :-/
7. I got a love letter in the mail today. From my husband. :)
8. I've been having dreams in Spanish lately.

I love my daddy.

I do. I am my daddy's girl. While I do have a good mix of each of my parents' attributes, I am largely my father. I have his personality. I have his sense of humor. I have his work ethic. I even ventured into a very similar profession.

I am 100% okay with that.

Every couple of weeks, my phone will ring sometime mid morning. It's my dad, calling to see if I can meet for lunch in a couple of hours. More often than not, I can. (When I can't, it bums me out.)

I was driving home from the chiropractor's office when my phone rang this morning. I saw that it was my dad, so I didn't answer. What? Didn't I just say I love my dad? He's recently gone on a kick against talking on cell phones while driving. So, I didn't answer, because I didn't want to lie and say I wasn't driving, and I didn't want to feel deceptive by answering and misleading him. But I knew he was likely calling to ask about my lunch plans.

I waited for the voice mail, then picked that up while driving. (Sorry dad!) I did wait until I got home to call him back and confirm lunch, though.

He had reason to be in my neck of the woods at lunchtime, so we met at Fatz. Yum!

Daddy-daughter-grandson time. :) It was sweet. And we laughed so hard at R that I nearly cried.

My sweet daddy meeting 

my sweet baby boy for the first time.

Random Musings from my Yesterday

• R slept until 7:30 yesterday morning!!!
• R has discovered how to -- and loves to -- open the glass shower door in our master bathroom. It is quite hard to shower one-handed while holding the door shut with the other hand...especially if you plan to shave your legs.
• Clean sheet night!!!
• R has a ride-on rocket toy. He rarely ever rides on it and prefers to push it around by its handlebars instead. He's gotten really fast and really dangerous with it. Yesterday, he jammed it full speed into my left ankle. Did I mention I was also cutting fruit? Yeah...that could have been disastrous. 
• While backing out of the garage yesterday, I noticed a big spider on my passenger side window. Thankfully, it was on the outside. At first, I was just going to drive off and hope he blew away. Then, I decided I didn't want another traveling companion. So, I got out of the car and smushed it with my shoe. Juicy. Ew.
•  Because of said spider, I decided to run my car through a gas station car wash yesterday. I haven't been terribly attentive to my car since R was born; poor car! So, it's been a while since we've been through a car wash, and I didn't know how R would react. He thought the initial spray was hilarious! Then, as the big -- umm...what do you call those things? As the big spinny things whacked the car, his eyes got really big. Then he cracked up. He thought the entire process was the greatest thing ever!
• R was still up for the beginning of the Miami Dolphins game. Fergie sang the national anthem (a capella, I believe). R headbanged to it! 
• I unintentionally cleaned the filter in my vacuum cleaner yesterday. Disgusting. But my vacuum sucks in a good way instead of in a bad way now.

Here's R being dangerous with his rocket toy.

Fall Unfavorites

As a follow-up to my previous post about my favorite fall things, I thought I'd be fair and post about what I don't like about fall. Here goes:

• Pumpkin spice lattes 

And, I wish I did. I'm just not into pumpkin stuff. I will certainly settle for knowing that whatever warm beverage I order, it won't make me break out into a sweat. 

I would add raking leaves to that list, but we just have a couple of really tiny trees. Jason can use the mower to take care of whatever leaves actually happen to fall in our yard.

Longest 30 Minutes of My Life

Jason and I went out of town for the weekend. Our favorite band played two back-to-back nights in Isle of Palms. They've done it every year for the last several years. We've only missed it once...last year when we had a brand new baby.

It was really nice to get away. R spent the weekend with grandparents, and we got to enjoy time with great friends, great music and no naptime or bedtime restrictions.

Friday morning, I began to get things ready for us to leave. I've learned that, with a child, it takes pretty much a whole day just to get out of town. I showered, got R dressed, put some laundry in and headed downstairs to get ready to take the dog to the kennel.

Since Piper (the dog) isn't playing nice with R anymore, I put her in the back yard so that R could play for a few more minutes. I grabbed her food and headed into the garage to put that and her bed into my car. I pulled the door shut behind me, because I didn't want R to pry it open and fall down the brick stairs.

I was out there 30 seconds.

When I returned to the door, I found it locked.

Locked?!? Yes...my 13-month-old son locked the garage door on me.

I kind of laughed it off and thought, "It's a good thing I just let the dog out back. At least I can still get in through the unlocked back door."

I got to the back door, and I couldn't get the knob to turn. Sometimes the back door knob gets a little stuck, so I gave it an extra hard twist. It still didn't budge. That's when panic set in.

My 13-month-old son locked me out of the house.

Of course, my cell phone was locked in the house with him. So, I sprinted to our next door neighbor's house. I rang the doorbell and tried to wait patiently. It's the most unnatural thing to be standing on another person's property, knowing that your small child is at home unattended. I rang the doorbell again. Nothing.

I sprinted back across my front yard and to my other next door neighbor's house. All the while, I was frantically trying to figure out where I'd go if she wasn't home, because I knew all of our other neighbors in the cul-de-sac were at work. I wasted no time and rang her doorbell four times right off the bat.

Thankfully, she was home.

She came to the door, even in her nightgown and peeked through the window at me like I was crazy. I said, "I just need your phone," and put my hand to my ear to make the international symbol for "phone."

She let me in and tried to small talk with me. I frantically told her what had just happened, and began to dial Jason's cell phone number on her phone. I had to dial it four or five separate times to actually get it to go through. Once it started ringing, I thought, "Uh-oh. This number is not going to be in Jason's phone, and he might not answer. Then what?"

Thank goodness my husband answers calls from strangers daily.

He answered. Our four second conversation went like this:
     Jason: This is Jason.
     Me: R LOCKED ME OUT OF THE HOUSE!!! HE'S INSIDE!
     Jason: I'm on my way!!!
     Click.

I thanked the neighbor and ran back to my house. I rattled the garage door knob again. Then I ran back to the back yard to try the back door again...just in case. It was then that I got my first glimpse of my captive, yet oh-so-free toddler. He'd heard me rattling the doorknob in the garage, so he was busy toddling away from me and toward the noise he'd heard.

I went back to the front of the house. We have windows down both sides of our front door. I squatted down and started tapping on the glass and making funny faces at R. He thought we were playing an awesome game. That kept him entertained for a little while, and then he lost interest. He probably wondered why I wouldn't come back inside.

I continued to make a fool of myself as I followed him from window to window. It's a good thing that kid love his mama. He never ventured more than about four feet from the front of the house. He just kept looking at me, giggling, smiling and being completely unaware of the real situation.

Finally, Jason pulled into the driveway and ran to unlock the door. It should have taken him much longer, but he said he drove about 70 in a 45 to get home to us.

I ran inside behind Jason. He scooped R up, then handed him to me for a great big hug. It was a nice, sweet ending to the longest 30 minutes of my life.

Fall Favorites

A friend of mine posted this:

People who don't like fall have some serious problems, how could you not like fall?!

Agreed. In honor of her post, I thought I'd post some of my favorite things about fall.

• A much-needed break from the oppressive summer heat
• Wear whatever and be comfortable weather (specifically jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops weather)
• Open windows (and turning the air/heat completely off)
• Crisp air
• The colors of the changing leaves
• Football (I have a love/hate relationship with football; but there's just something great about having the windows open, plopping down on the couch and zoning in on a football game.)
• Munchies (I love an excuse to make and/or consume all kinds of football-watching food.)
• Concert season (It seems like every band goes on tour in the fall. Though it's not the concert-hopping fest it used to be for us, at least we'll get to catch a show here or there...because bands are actually coming to town.)
• General busy-ness (fall brings all kinds of fun stuff)
• Fall for Greenville (which, sadly, I will miss this year)
• Getting back in my car after it's been parked for a bit and not burning my buns on the seat
• Thanksgiving (I. love. comfort. food.)

Since fall isn't even remotely here yet, I'm sure this is just a short list. Maybe I'll amend it once fall is in full swing! Or maybe I'll be too busy enjoying all the perks of fall!

Southern Belle

For once, I'm not talking about this in reference to one of my favorite songs. :)

Today, a friend e-mailed me this article from Garden & Gun magazine. In its entirety, it's eight screens worth of reading, but I'm only concerned about the first three.

My friend's note to me (and the others to which she sent this) included the following:

It discusses a new meaning of "southern" 

and I know for me, explains a lot about who I am.

We talk a lot about "culture" in reference to other countries and the way they do things. Until this afternoon, I'd never really considered the culture in which I was raised. Even though I know different parts of the good ole U-S-of-A have their different nuances and personalities, I never really put much thought into how much being from the South helps define who I am...in a good way.

Aside from "Southern hospitality," the only other aspect of the South that I've thought much about is the Southern twang (which I proudly do not have).

So bring on the meat-and-three, the true Southern hospitality, the self respect, the babies and the community. I'm proud to be a real Southern Belle!

The Sequel

A few blogs back, I mentioned that there were lots of things I wanted to blog about, but just couldn't. I'm finally able to blog about one of them, since we made it public last week.

I am pregnant!

Yessiree Bob. I'm about 11 weeks along, which makes my official due date March 13, 2012. There's really no coherent or obvious way to weave together my thoughts and some of the fun facts I have to share, so I'm going to rely (once again) on my trusty bullets:

• My children will be roughly 20 months apart. 
• That means I will have two in diapers at the same time. And two under two. Wowza!
• I always said I wanted to have my two babies by the time I was 30. I never really thought that would happen, but I'm going to be basically accomplishing that. I turn 30 on January 21st. 
• I'm secretly hoping this baby will be born March 15th. That way, both my babies will have birthdays on the 15th. That's fun.
• Everyone's telling me how great I'm going to be as the mother of lots of children. Um...lots? Is there something I don't know? 
• I already have anxiety about trying to figure out how to shower (or otherwise get anything accomplished) with two children.
• Most of my family is already on the boy bandwagon. That's their guess at least. I'm just not convinced one way or another yet.
• If it is a boy, the seasons will be close enough that we'll be able to use a lot of R's clothes.
• If it is a girl, I'm going to need some serious help, because I don't know that I'm cut out for picking out frilly outfits.
• If it is a girl, there will be a serious limit on the amount of pink we bring into this house.
• I've already had two ultrasounds and have been able to see the little booger rockin' and rollin'. 
• Speaking of ultrasounds...FUN FACT: I had two early ultrasounds with R. His heart rate at the first was 129; at the second, it was 176. This baby has had the exact same rates as R: 129 at the first ultrasound and 176 at the second. Weird!
• I have morning (and noon and night) sickness. Meh. 
• I'm so stinkin' excited about how close these two will grow as they get older. I know it'll be harder on me in the first few years, but I'm already imagining how awesome it will be once they're old enough to be friends! 
• Since they'll be so close in age, they will even be in middle school together for a year. That's something my sister and I never had, since there are nine years between us!

Hollow Leg?

My son just turned 13 months old. He is long and lean. By long and lean, I mean 90th percentile for height and barely 50th for weight (stretched to his length, which makes him look even skinnier).

At his last pediatrician appointment, they sent me home with bullet points about the next few months. One of the points said that, at this age, many kids develop "toddlerexia" and don't eat so well but every few meals.

Not my kid. I think he might have a hollow leg.

I met friends at Firehouse Subs for lunch today, partially because kids eat free there on Wednesdays. I decided that today would be my first attempt at ordering food for R in a restaurant. Typically we always just take food for him, since he mostly eats fresh fruit and veggies.

I ordered him the kid grilled cheese sandwich. I cut off the crust (because it was really hard) and cut the sandwich into little pieces for him. He demolished it. I'd also brought a banana and a fruit cup as sides. He downed those in no time. Then...he reached onto my plate and ate the last two inches of my Philly cheese steak. Then he grabbed the crust from his sandwich and ate all of that. THEN he stole my pickle off my plate and fed that whole thing to himself.

After that, I think he was still looking for more! But we'd been there an hour and a half and he'd eaten more than I had, so it was time to go!

I've decided he eats more than most 3-year-olds (including the two who were with us).

Oh...and he definitely figured out how to make room for all that food. He smelled rotten before we ever got into the car. And when we got home, I change one stank nasty diaper. Whew.

Concerted Effort

I've been a stay-at-home mom for 13 months now. (Well, technically 10 months. I went on a three-month maternity leave with the intention of going back to work. I just never did.)

I am a very independent person, even though I'm very social. So, my days usually consist of doing whatever I feel like doing. R and I have our routine, and we run our errands and do our chores as necessary.

I have LOTS of stay-at-home mom friends and friends with flexible schedules and days off. But I'm terrible about calling them to get together. More often than not, it's a facebook wall conversation that goes something like this:

• Me: I feel like I haven't seen you in forever. We need to get together soon! What's your calendar look like? 
• Her: I know! We do need to plan something soon. Next week is a little crazy for me. Let's shoot for the week after that.
• Me: Sounds good! 

And then we never follow through. We have that conversation multiple times over several months before we finally buckle down and get together. You'd think I didn't like hanging out with these people or something!

This week, I've changed that.

I have a friend from high school who had twins 18 months ago. We have talked about play dates since our kids were tiny. Finally, yesterday, we got together. It was great! R had to skip/delay his morning nap to accommodate, but it worked out just fine.

And then I topped off yesterday with phone dates with two of my best friends. Yesterday was a win!

Today, I took the initiative to ask one of my best friends from church to lunch. Bingo-bango...we're out of the house and killing a couple of hours again! We even had another friend join us last minute. Good day!

So, I'm hoping I'm on a roll here. Watch out people! Your phones will be ringing soon!

To continue this awesome momentum, I have a question. I know there are tons of free activities around town for moms and their preschoolers. Who knows what? Where do we need to be going and when? What should I look for? R has more than reached the age/activity level where it's just not feasible for us to play at home all day every day.

Support ALL of our troops

I'm not sure how to write this post without sounding callous. Know up front that this is coming from a place of major compassion in my heart.

Of course I am deeply saddened by the recent loss of 30 lives in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Many of those lives were United States special forces...Navy SEALs.

The tragedy resulted in major and continued media coverage. As a result, I've also seen and heard of a lot of fundraisers and support being raised for the families of the lost SEALs.

I love how Americans can pull together in a tragedy like this. I think it's an amazing show of compassion, love and patriotism.

BUT.

I hate how this has come to be. Yes, our Navy SEALs and other special forces are highly trained and should be highly commended. Yes, our special forces take on some of the most dangerous missions in war. Yes, our special forces and Navy SEALs are heroes.

But these recent events have seemingly elevated the lives of these soldiers and the hurt of their families over all of the other troops we have...and have lost. I'm sure it's due in large part to the knowledge that it was a SEAL team which took out Osama bin Laden and the warm fuzzies everyone has for the SEALs because of that.

What about the other thousands of lives lost in the last decade in Iraq and Afghanistan? What about the thousands upon thousands of family members they left behind? Don't they deserve the same support and compassion as these 20 families?

I'm not a media basher, but it's a shame that the families who receive the most support are the families whose soldiers died in the most publicized attacks.

We should support our troops. We should support ALL of our troops. And we should support their families. All the time. Not just when the US brings home a flag-draped box.

Tell anyone you encounter who's wearing a uniform that you appreciate them. I don't care whether you agree with the wars. These people take their orders and march courageously forward -- whether you agree or not -- all to sustain your freedom. Tell them thank you. Tell them thank you all the time, not just on holidays. Prove me wrong, and show me how compassionate, supportive and patriotic Americans are when the camera's not rolling.

Blogger's Block

I want to blog, but I can't seem to do it.

Part of what I want to write just won't come to me.

And part of what I want to write, I just can't talk about. (No drama. No worries. my world is certainly not crashing down.)

Is there a cure for this?

Grammar Rant/Lesson

Be forewarned: This is a rant. I try not to rant too often via the written word, but if I bottle this up much longer, I'm likely to take it out on a facebook friend or two, which might end in utter disaster.

It's no secret that I am a grammar nerd. I don't claim to have perfect grammar all the time (especially when throwing words to a page for a facebook post or a random blog). But, I do have a hearty knowledge of the language I grew up speaking, and I rarely butcher it. I do understand that my grasp of English is above average. (I am good at English, whereas others are better at science. I get it.) However, I consider it entirely appropriate to respect the language of the country where I live. Not only that, but, in this internet age, the ability to express oneself via the written word is even more important than it has ever been.

The previous two sentences give the background for my rant. Entirely too many grown Americans have completely lost respect for the English language; and it has become glaringly evident now that anyone and everyone has the freedom to post opinions on the internet. It makes me sad.

These people often come across as ignorant. And more often than that, they simply don't get their points across, because the jibberish they've strung together makes no sense to anyone but the person who wrote it. 

With that said, here are a few grammar tips I'd like to share. These are some of the most common and easy-to-fix mistakes I've noticed in the time I've spent browsing the internet.

• You're - This is, indeed a word. Many people seem to have forgotten it. While "you're" is a verb, "your" is not. "Your" means you have something. For example, "your" sweater. "You're" means "you are." Plain and simple. You're going to the store...not your going to the store.
• Too - This is also a word. It is different from "to" and "two." It is a synonym for "also." You're going to the concert tomorrow? Me too!
• Apostrophes (') Part 1 - Apostrophes are not necessary (in fact, they are prohibited) when making a word plural. In most cases, to make something plural, simply add an 's'. (Sometimes you have to add 'es,' and there are some freaky weird exceptions like "cacti," but let's stick with basics here.) 
• Apostrophes (') Part 2 - Also, contractions require apostrophes. When you combine "can" and "not," you get "can't," not "cant." In fact, leaving out the apostrophe in a contraction can lead to an entirely different word. "Cant" is actually a noun meaning a slope or tilt. Common contractions requiring apostrophes include: can't, don't, I'm, I'd, I've, you've, you'd, you're, we're, etc.
• Punctuation - It's important. A basic rule of thumb is to use punctuation when you would pause in speaking. For example, you would stop to take a breath if you planned to say, "Julie and I are going to the pool. We might have lunch at Subway before we come home." I promise the period is necessary. Shorter sentences are your friends. Compound sentences (those including words such as "and" or "but" to link them) do exist, but if you don't understand how to construct them properly, don't do it. And always use a question mark (?) at the end of a sentence that is intended to be a question. Do you want to take a ride in my love machine?
• Capitalization - Proper nouns should be capitalized. That most certainly includes the pronoun "I." In very rare circumstances, it is cute to use all lowercase. It's rare. Very rare.
• Time of Day - The most commonly accepted form for a time is XX:XX. For example, it is 8:00 a.m. It suddenly seems as if people have misplaced the colon. You're not going to dinner at 630; you're going at 6:30. (This does not apply to military time. But, come on...how many of you can really claim you're using military time? That would mean you are going to dinner at 1830, not 630, anyway.)
• Y'all - This contraction is Southern slang for "you all." Hence, the apostrophe should go between the 'y' (for "you") and the "all." "Ya'll" is not a word.

I won't attempt to get into the "You and I" versus "You and me" debate at this time. While I understand it, I am much more forgiving in that arena, because it is more complex than simple grammar. 

That's all I have for this installment. This has been a public service announcement. Thanks, and good afternoon. 

Good Mommy Day

Evidently I've reverted back to my bad blogger days. Every time I've considered blogging, I remembered how much more interesting the other blogs I read seem than mine. This may or may not be a comeback.

I have what I consider "good mommy days" and "bad mommy days." Today, I am proud to say that I'm having a good mommy day. 

A good mommy day goes something like this:

• I don't feel it necessary to clean up the mess while R is awake.
• I feel like the time passes quickly and R is well-entertained.
• I miraculously come up with some sort of new activity from already existing toys.
• Nap time commences with ease. 
• I don't feel like my blood pressure rises much (even on account of the dog). 
• I feel like I'm actually teaching my child something, instead of just trying to keep him alive.

In contrast, a bad mommy day goes something like this:

• I simply try to keep my child alive and try my best not to do anything that might leave lasting physical or emotional scars.

Is it just me? Or do all you mothers have these too?

My coffee habit

It was just a few short weeks ago that I posted about my new love for coffee. In that time, my new love has turned into a bit of a problem. See, when I make coffee at home, I have to make an entire pot of coffee. Even if I save half to drink the next day, I'm still drinking half a pot of coffee by myself! Not good.

I'd looked into getting a Keurig a couple of months ago. It would be free, because I planned to use rewards points from my credit card to "buy" it. I ultimately decided it was just going to be another gadget and something else to sit on my counter. I thought the novelty would wear off quickly and I'd regret buying it.

I've changed my mind. I have to do something to cut down the massive amounts of coffee I'm drinking. I surfed around the rewards site yesterday and ended up with a Keurig on order. I opted to do it the difficult way.

The two models my rewards points offered me at the lowest point amounts were the B31 (roughly 14,000 points) and the B60 (just over 20,000 points). I did a little research and realized that, based on the value of a point, I'd be paying more than retail for these products. The short version of a long story is that I cashed in my points and ordered a Keurig from Costco.com. (My new love affair with Costco.com is a completely separate story.)

In the end, here's what I got for $159.99

• Keurig B70 model (with 60-ounce water reservoir) (retail $179.95)
• The standard 12 K-cup sampler that comes with a Keurig purchase (typically included)
• An additional 4 12-packs of K-cups from Mountain, Tully's, Caribou and Newman's Own (we'll call this a $32 value...based on the $7.99 per 12-pack price at the grocery store)
• A K-cup reusable coffee filter (for use with your own grounds) (usually $15)
• Free shipping to my door (I also have a love affair with online shopping, particularly when free shipping is involved.) (I won't value this, since I could have gotten in my car and gone to the store.)

In the end, I estimate I got a $226.95 value for $159.99!
 
I win. :)

My new love

I've never been a "coffee drinker," per say. I've always dabbled in it, but I've never been dependent upon it, nor have I had a particular love for it. I've been known to have a Starbucks cup in my hand quite often. My secret is that it was never coffee; my cup has always held delicious hot chocolate or caramel macchiato.

Now that I'm home and not driving to Greenville for work every day, I do not pass a Starbucks on any of my routine outings. Plus, my love for Starbucks dwindled as their prices rose.

I discovered a place in town called Bella Latte. They make a good hot chocolate (probably better than Starbucks), and the prices are more reasonable. Still, it's a treat and swindles me out of a couple of bucks.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I went to Atlanta to visit my grandma. I'm not sure whether it was sharing a double bed with my mom, my grandma's noisy oxygen machine or what, but I slept like crap that night. In the morning, I set out in search of breakfast. I reappeared with half a dozen Dunkin Donuts and a cup of coffee.

That morning changed my life. I fell in love with Dunkin Donuts French vanilla coffee. Since then, I've detoured by the good ol' DD a few times. The great news is two-part: 1.) There's a Dunkin Donuts not too far from my house (and it's on the way to other things); 2.) A large DD French vanilla coffee with cream and sugar is only $2.15. (Trust me, that's a deal when you're used to specialty drinks.)

I've found myself craving the stuff practically every day. Rylan's been getting up a little early lately, so I've been particularly tired as of late. On the days I couldn't make it to DD, I got a little sad. 

Today I was at Target (which meant I didn't pass DD on the way), and a coffee end cap caught my eye. Lo and behold, there was a package of DD French vanilla grounds right in front of me! I picked it up and grabbed some coffee filters. That's when I noticed the pretty creamer bottles in the fridge.

My spontaneous purchase morphed. I ditched the coffee and filters and picked up French vanilla creamer instead. And it was on sale. $1.50 for a bottle of the stuff.

I knew we had some coffee left at the house from when Jason's parents visited at Christmas.

I came home and started a pot of coffee before I even got R out of the car seat. Homemade cheap-o coffee with French vanilla creamer and a touch of sugar tasted just like the Dunkin stuff I fell in love with.

R's down for a nap and I've had two cups of coffee. I feel like I could conquer the world. Maybe I should start drinking this stuff in the morning like the rest of the world. They might be onto something...

The grandfather I never knew

Family is important to me. I dearly love my family. And, the older I've gotten, the more I've grown to appreciate the bonds and love within my family.

I have a modern-day family tree. It's one where some branches of the tree have broken off and reattached elsewhere. My family tree splits and twists. But there's a lot of love (and weirdness) all over it.

One of the areas where there aren't warm fuzzies is my paternal grandfather. I'm not going to get into the details. The extent to which I know the man is that I've met him once. I was eight years old. So, needless to say, I didn't know him.

He died Monday. (I found out yesterday.) It was strange not to feel much of anything. It didn't really affect my day or my mood.

I am directly related to him. Without him, my dad would not have been born. In turn, that means, his existence was essential in my existence. It's strange to try to reconcile that with the fact that he and I walked the earth for 29 of the same years, but never knew each other.

Despite all that, I found myself praying for him as he lay dying. Since I didn't know him, I couldn't say with any degree of certainty what his relationship with Jesus was. But I assumed he didn't have one. I prayed that he would find Him before it was too late.

And now that he's gone, I just have one biological grandparent left: my mom's mother. She was always the oldest of the four. She's currently 89 and feisty as ever. But that's an entirely different post...

Atlanta: The Christmas Gift

I've been going to Atlanta my entire life. Though neither of my parents were born there, they both lived there in high school (they graduated high school together). My sister was born there. And, even once my parents and sister moved to South Carolina, my parents' families continued to live in Atlanta.

Late last year, I mentioned to Jason that I rarely get to do anything in Atlanta that doesn't involve hanging out with family at some family member's house. My ever perceptive husband picked up on this, and a Christmas present was born.

Those of you who know Jason know that 90% of what he does is laced with fierce creativity. This present was no different. Christmas 2010 was the year I received "The 12 gifts of Christmas." Most (but not all) of them centered around our Atlanta trip. Here's the complete list:

1. Willow Tree figurine
2. Band t-shirts (Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Matt Wertz)
3. iTunes albums (3 $10 iTunes gift cards)
4. Concert tickets (two tickets to see the Old 97's and two tickets to see Grace Potter & The Nocturnals)
5. Pictures (a frame with 5 pictures of R and me)
6. A 6-pack of Diet Coke (and a note that we'd be visiting the World of Coke, the Georgia Aquarium and CNN)
7. Caramel macchiatos (Starbucks gift card)
8. Sausage biscuits (McDonald's gift card)
9. Unsharpened pencils (I collect them.)
10. Socks (5 pairs)
11. Scratch off tickets (I won $1.)
12. Months (a 2011 calendar)

He even worked it out, in advance, for my sister to babysit R for the weekend. 

We just had our Atlanta getaway. Blog to come...

Gourmet Mama

Okay, so maybe I'm not a chef or Martha Stewart in training. BUT, I did give homemade baby food a go for the first time this week! I decided to start simple: cherries and bananas.

I bought a bag of organic sweet cherries from the frozen section. Once they thawed, I popped them in the processor with a tiny bit of water and liquidated those suckers! One bag of cherries made about 9 ounces of liquified cherries.

Tonight, I noticed that our bananas were rapidly getting overly ripe. Since there's no way we'd eat four bananas before they go bad, I peeled two of them and popped them in the processor. Voila! I instantly had about 8 ounces of baby-ready 'nanas.

R loved both!

For some reason, I'd been a little hesitant to start making any baby food. I can't believe I waited so long; it was ridiculously easy! My attitude now is that I will make what I can, meaning what is relatively easy to make or unavailable in regular baby food flavors (cherries, bananas, sweet potatoes, etc.), and I will buy what seems to involved, out of season or otherwise inappropriate to make (apples, carrots, etc.).

I've actually started buying large jars of Motts unsweetened applesauce instead of apple baby food. It's cheaper and just about the same thing. And, since R currently refuses most vegetables right now (unless they're mixed or alternated with apples), applesauce is a staple in our house.

To the rescue!

There is an understanding in our household. I am the one in charge of killing all eight-legged creatures.

That's right. My husband is terrified of spiders. I can't say that I have any warm fuzzy feelings toward them.  I especially despise those big wolf spiders with the hairy legs. Ugh. But, under our agreement, I kill spiders, and he kills cockroaches. (Now those things really give me the willies. I think it's the erratic movement.)

Most often, if I see a spider, I know it's best to kill it, then tell Jason what it was. That way, I can reassure him that it's dead, which means he doesn't have to leave the room.(Side note: The most crucial time I employed this tactic was while I driving on I-485 in Charlotte. I grabbed a napkin out of the center console, then launched three tries before killing a spider climbing on the ceiling of my car. I'm afraid to know what Jason would have done if he'd known what I was doing before I accomplished it.)

All of that to say this. I decided to kick my feet up for a few minutes while R napped. As I reclined on the couch, I noticed a dark spot on my kitchen ceiling. Then I noticed said dark spot moving. I decided it best to kill said dark spot before Jason got home from work.

I'd like to say that I did a remarkably swift and accurate job of killing the darn thing. It must be all that practice!

Operation Christmas Child: It Starts

Say what?!?

Yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas, even though it's only February. And, no, I'm not one of those nuts who starts Christmas shopping for her family this early (or really even the slightest bit early).

I've been familiar with Operation Christmas Child since college. It's an amazing outreach spearheaded by Samaritan's Purse. If you've never heard of it, I certainly encourage you to click the link and check it out. They send shoeboxes full of toys, hygiene products, small gifts and all kinds of other things to children world wide who wouldn't otherwise have a Christmas. And, with every single shoebox, the Gospel message goes too.

This was my first real exposure to missions. I don't know whether it's that reason or something else, but it's very dear to my heart. I love Christmas, and I love the idea of sending a little Christmas - the real Christmas message - to kids all over the world.

I used to put together a couple of shoeboxes of my own each year. I always had a lot of fun doing it. I eventually started gathering bulk items throughout the year to stock up for my Sunday school class's box-stuffing party each year. Then, my Sunday school class transitioned to just giving money and having one individual buy the items throughout the year.

That's when the magic left for me.

Last year, I hit an all-time low in my participation. Handing over money each month just didn't give me the same level of involvement. It didn't touch my heart. It caused me to be too far away from the mission. I didn't even participate in the box-stuffing party.

That's when I realized that something had to change. So, just after the boxes got shipped away in November, I decided that this year would be different for me. I decided to go back to doing my own boxes.

But I wasn't satisfied with just doing a couple of boxes like I had in years past. I decided that I was truly going to work at it this year. I decided to set a goal for how many boxes to do on my own, which also meant I could set aside money throughout the year to cover the cost of shipping each of the boxes, too.

My goal? 24. Twelve for boys. Twelve for girls.

Admittedly, with the post-Christmas craziness, our vacation in January and the snowstorm, I got behind. But, today, I made my very first purchase toward this year's boxes. I bought 24 washcloths. Now my eyes are peeled for bargains on shoebox-worthy items.

I know I'll buy crayons in August, during the back-to-school sales. I'll check out the deals on hard candy and other fun stuff after Valentine's Day. We'll get toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by one of our dentist friends again this year. I'm going to be on the lookout for deals on other items that I always like to include: socks, rice, sidewalk chalk, paper, coloring books, toy cars, hair accessories, etc.

Let the games begin! Won't you join me in packing some boxes?

Going Public

Just so it's out there for the world to see, here is my New Year's resolution:

Watch less TV

I don't know how much television I actually watch. But the darn thing is always on. This year, that changes.

So far, so good.

Know Your Role

I had a meeting today for the event I'm volunteering my time to plan. If I'm completely honest, earlier this week I was a bit disenchanted with my involvement in this event. I got the feeling that there had been miscommunication about my role...or that I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing. I received a phone call yesterday from one of the people in charge of the event. When I got off the phone with her, I felt a HUGE weight lift off my shoulders. No one is mad at me. I'm not letting anyone down. In fact, I was the one who had misunderstood exactly what they wanted me to do; and I like the real role even better.

I expected the meeting today to be fierce. I thought that there was still one person who was going to be out for blood. I was wrong. And I'm glad I was wrong. I am, once again, excited about the event.

By some miracle, my baby boy was an angel during our meeting. (Don't get me wrong. He's very chill and such a good baby. But I had to muck up his routine to take him to this meeting...which was during naptime.) I knew he would fall asleep on our way home, so I opted to take the scenic route home so that he could catch some Z's and maybe reset back into his usual sequence of daily activities.

I've mentioned before that driving is soothing for me. It's something I enjoy. It gives me time to think.

I realized something on my joy ride home. My last blog made it sound like I doubt who I am. That's not accurate. I haven't changed. Sure, I've added "mom" to my life resume, and it's in much bigger font than my other titles right now. But it's my role that has changed; not me.

And I realized it has a domino effect of sorts. I must learn to reshape and refocus everything else through the reality of my mommy role. And that makes it much easier for me to comprehend.

Part of me thinks this was an epiphany of sorts...an "a-ha moment." And part of me thinks it was a "shoulda had a V-8 moment." Either way, I'll take it.

I knew myself once

In high school and early college, when a lot of kids are just flying by the seat of their pants and doing whatever feels right, I spent a lot of time looking into myself. I was blessed to figure out who I was. Knowing myself brought me a confidence when I graduated college and interviewed for jobs. It ensured that I married the right man. It helped me grow into my career and my church.

Fast forward a decade or so.

I still know myself, but my entire circumstance has changed. I had a baby. I quit my job. I pledged to continue working as a volunteer with an organization I'd done work with when I was employed. (That's been hard.)

So here I am. With a college degree I earned with my hard work. With the first phases of my career gone and officially "on  hold." With a precious six-month-old son. With an ever-changing daily routine. (It's true what they say: as soon as you get the baby figured out, he changes it up on you.)

Deep at my core, I still know myself. I am truly thankful, grateful to have that part figured out. That is the part of me that will never change.

But I haven't quite figured out who I am as a wife and mother whose sole job is to care for husband and son. I don't doubt for a second that it's where I'm supposed to be. But I don't have it figured out just yet...