Old Friend & Good Conversation

I'm posting twice in one day; what has gotten into me!?


I know, a glass of wine (or two), and an amazing phone conversation with one of my awesome friends Jackie!

Also, please let me clarify that by no means am I saying we are old, just that we've been friends for several years!

Jackie and I went to college together our freshmen year.  Then she transferred away, but we've managed to stay friends over the years.  We still both live in Ohio, for now anyway, but we only talk maybe twice a year!  I see here every few years, and love the time we spend together.  She's a friend I know, that when we talk on the rare occasion, it's like we picked up where we left forever ago, and I love that.

I am happy as pie right now.  There is not much that warms the soul better than a great conversation with an even better friend.

Love you Jackie!  (I wish you had a blog or twitter that I could link to.  Then I could share you awesomeness!)

Terrible Fried Zucchini

Apparently it's a week of the funnies.

Remember my silly moments from the last few days?

And don't forget about the time I took the kids to swim lessons without towels.

Today's funny story comes from my one and only hubby.

We have a small "farmers market" at work in our cafeteria.  Today he purchased a $0.20 zucchini that he was excited about coming home to fry for dinner.

I don't like his fried zucchini, but that's beside the point.  No one would have liked his fried zucchini tonight.

In stead of using flour, he used powered sugar. 

We feed that zucchini straight to the trash can. 

Strings

So remember yesterday, when I shared some of my funny, I'm a idiot moments?

Well guess what, I have another one for you.

Be prepared to laugh.

I wore a dress today.  It had thin ties on them.  Caden asked why I had stings on my back this morning.

This evening, after calling hours, my parents and I met up with the hubs and kids for supper. 

I climbed out of the SUV in the parking lot, shut the door, and started walking away.

I didn't get very far.  My "strings" were still in my seat in the car on the other side of the closed car door.

Cue the laughter. 

I'm an idiot moments.

Remember when I did this?  And I said it felt like this?

Guess what.

I did it again, sort of.  This time, I missed myself and my computer luckily!

I was sitting in an afternoon meeting just after my lunch.  I had taken my laptop and my glass of water to the meeting as usual.  I moved my computer to share something on my screen, and crash, splash, uh oh.  There it went.  My boss and her peer jumped up to get paper towels, while I crawled under the tables to start picking up the ice cubes and my straw.  The meeting continued, as I cleaned away.  I felt like an idiot, but everyone knows that is typical me action.

It only that were my only embarrassing moment of the day.  I might have felt a little better about myself.

Later this afternoon, I was picking up finishing up a conversation with a peer about something and walking back to my desk, when I noticed a large blog of caramel-looking gunk smashed into my desk chair.  I'm sure you can imagine what that means.

I quickly went to work cleaning it off my chair, and then I headed to my friend Kristin's desk who sits behind me.

In my I know I'm an idiot kind of way, I said "this is embarrassing, but is there anything on my butt?" 

"Yeah.  You've definitely got something going on there."

Well crap.  And I mean literally, because it looked like crap on my butt.  I went to the bathroom to attempt to wash it off, not successful.  It anything, it brought more attention to it because the paper towels left white fluff on my black pants!

I hope no one looked in the general direction of my butt this afternoon.  Luckily, I don't too easily get embarrassed; I have a tendency to do things like this often!  Like remember this? Or, said posts linked above?  Yes, I'm an idiot.

Update: I just posted this less than an hour ago.  Shortly after I published it, I realized my  fly was down the whole time I wrote this.  Ironic?  Yes.  Further justification I am an idiot? Yes.

Our Boys Turned 4

I'm pretty late posting this as their birthday was the first part of May, but better late than never right?

I can't believe they're getting so big!  I can remember being a child and hearing people talk about how fast time moves as you get older, and I don't think I've ever fully understood that statement until recently.   Time flies, and yet there is so much I want to enjoy with my kids.  So, here's to a happy year of adventures in our family four year old twin boys!

 I can't believe they're 4!

:)

We're 4!

Birthday Party Fun

Scooby Doo Party Hats

Family Time v. Me Time

Our National Leader at work, when catching up and asking me about my family, said something that has really stuck with me.  He said that "your life will revolve around your kids until they're 20, 22-ish"  He is a father to three, who travels fairly frequently.  But I've been thinking about his statement for the last few days.

While I do not negate the fact that my kids do and should come first in my life, I also think it is important to have my own me time too, and of course that would include time with the hubster to benefit our relationship too!  I've toyed with this thought, a lot.

Initially it really rubbed me the wrong way, but the more I think about it, the more I understand it.  I make hundreds of decisions daily that are based on what is best for my children.  I've changed my entire lifestyle in the last few years for the better to do what is best for my kids, and it turns out, it's what's best for me too. 

But I do make decisions based on my needs too.  Often time, even those are made based one what is best for my children.  Sometimes what is good for them is mommy having a night off to de-stress, come back collected and more focused. 

So maybe all my decisions are based on what is best for my family, and I am okay with that, because what is best for my family is best for me.  I think what struck me funny about it was that I interpreted that my life was to revolve around them, which it does, but I do have a life of my own, and that is alright.  I think it is perfectly acceptable to spend time apart from your family; it makes your time together that much more special.

Do you see any blue?

I witnessed something bothersome last night in a public restroom. 

It was date night for hubby and I.  We went to dinner and a movie, with some shopping in between.  By the time we arrived at the theater, I badly needed to use the restroom.  I went and did my thing, but while I was washing my hands, there was a small group of middle school aged girls gossiping in the restroom. 

Some of them had gone into a rated R movie, and they were scared so they ran out, but the employees would never know where they were, and so on.  None of which I cared about, but still found it amusing. 

As I was finishing washing and drying my hands another member of their group came out of a stall and asked her friends to look for anything blue as she danced around so they could see all sides.  Now this, I was curious about.  I turned to dry my hands, and continue listening to this conversation.  The girl proceeds to show her friends her blue undies that she's wearing under her tiny little shorts.

My thoughts:

• If there is a chance you underwear is showing outside your shorts, your shorts are too small/short! 
• What mother lets their middle school age child wear shorts that short!?

We're Home!

We're home from vacation, and I have so much to share, but today, I want to enjoy the comforting feeling of home!  I wish we could just take our house with us when we traveled; well, maybe not the whole thing, but parts of it! 

On our drive back today, Caden may have heard me say something about not wanting to go back to work tomorrow.  So his solution, that he proposed to mommy and daddy: you say you don't want to go to work; I don't want to go to school; let's go back to Sesame Street!

Oh if life were that simple.

Happiness in the Ocean

I'll be blogging more about our adventures with photographs when we return home, but there was a moment today, that was worth documenting.


My family our four, on our first real family vacation, spent the late afternoon at the crowded beach in New Jersey.  After the boys finally warmed up to the idea of the water, the four of us held hands and walked our the beach so our toes, and legs on larger waves, were brushed by the water.  There we stood hand-in-hand, smiles on our faces, enjoying the breeze off the ocean and the water on our toes.  We stood, enjoying the movement of the waves, and the presence of each other for 10 minutes (shocking for four year old boys) before Caden broken the hand holding to play in the sand.

It was pure happiness.

I stood there, smiling for as long as my family was enjoying it.  I wanted to take a photo of our family enjoying this moment of our family vacation, but I was too busy living in the moment.  So please, use your imagination.  (I'm sure photos I'll share in a future post, will help with the imagination part!)

2010 Summer Vacation Day 1

We hit the road about 11:00 Friday morning after finishing getting everyone ready and the car loaded.  We made a quick stop at the bank and Giant Eagle, then we were on our way!  (Giant Eagle sells discount tickets to Idlewild Park for a good deal!) 

We drove straight through to our hotel, in small PA town about a half hour drive some Idlewild Park.  The kids did SURPRISINGLY well on the 3-ish hour drive out here!  I was impressed and very proud of them!  I didn't have high expectations after our trip to Buffalo earlier this year! 

When I say small town, there wasn't much of anything to do with the kiddos once we got here!  I had planned on spending the evening in the hotel's indoor pool with them after the car ride, but it turns out, our hotel pool is pretty gross.  So is the gym.  The a/c units are all broken in the gym, so I was sweating just standing in there, and the one and only treadmill was "out of order." So that was a bust.  At least our room was tolerable!  (I booked the room the night before we left on vacation.  I really put off scheduleing this one, and I think I've learned my lesson!)

Luckily, with the help of an awesome friend of mine, we were able to find a mall about 20-30 minutes away to go spend the evening and find some dinner!  Since it was raining finding a park to play at was out of the question!  The good news is that we found the boys new sandals they've been needing, and hubby a pair of swim trunks since he failed to pack his own!  Plus I found a new pair of jeans for $7!

Now, we're relaxing at the hotel while the boys watch Monsters Inc. before heading to bed early before our day at Idlewild Park!

I'm posting day one today, but the rest of the days will have to wait!  I failed to bring our camera cord with us to update with photos!  Today, we took no pictures.

Home? Or not?

We live on a corner.  When we're driving home from anywhere north of our house we have drive past our house, then turn on to our next road to get into our driveway.

Nearly EVERY time we're driving home this way, as soon as the house is in sight, I listen to the following argument.  It never changes.

Caleb: We're home!

Caden: No we're not.

Caleb: We're home!

Caden: No, we're still on the road!

Caleb: We're home.  See.

Caden: We're still on the road.

And it continues until we're safely in our driveway/garage.  Every single time.

He's coming home!

Hubby just called for a super fast call before he turned in for the night on his work trip.  Normally, I'd be disappointed we didn't get a chance to chat about our days, BUT he called with good news! He is COMING HOME TOMORROW! 

Now I'm a bit excited and don't know if I'm going to be able to force myself to go to sleep!

And, oh crap, that means we're back on schedule for vacation, and now I am behind in packing, laundry, booking a hotel, etc. 

But right now, I don't care because he's coming home tomorrow!  :):)

I love how God always has a plan for everything.

My thoughts on a week of single parenting.

Hubby left early Sunday morning for work a couple states away for the week.  I am  grateful for him having a good job, with a great company, and most importantly that it's something he wants to do.  I'm also grateful that he doesn't often have to travel for work!  I realize I travel maybe a half dozen times a year for work and leave him home with the kids, but this is a first to have the tables turned, and I am not a fan!

Fortunately Keith was able to call last night for a very quick good night to the fellow for the first time since he'd been gone.  He was able to call tonight for a bit longer, and they boys had LOTS to tell him about!  I only wish Keith had had more time to listen to their stories. 

He hasn't been able to call much, especially after he first left, but it's not so bad now! It's just hard to catch the kids while they're awake! Aside from that, I miss having someone around to help out with the kids; I miss someone around to talk to about my day.  Luckily I have an awesome friend at work, who listens to me.

Keith called today, and there is a very good chance that he won't be coming home tomorrow as planned.  This did not make me a happy camper!  Not only was I disappointed about him not being home to spend time with us, but I also had to go home and tell the kids tonight that Daddy wasn't coming home tomorrow as planned.  However, it went surprisingly well.  Caden didn't have anything to say.  Caleb said: "Oh? Next week?"  I'm not sure they've fully grasped the concept of time yet at 4!


The other complaint I have about him not coming home tomorrow, is that we're supposed to leave on vacation on Friday.  It's hard to plan and prepare for a vacation that we no longer know when we're leaving for.  We won't be able to leave as early, Keith won't have a night to rest at home, and I go from a week of single parenting to a LOT of car time with two four year old boys.  I think my stress levels might be slightly elevated by the time we arrive at Idlewild Park! (Luckily, in non-me style, I've procrastinated booking us a place to stay, so we don't have that to worry about!)

The thing is, I feel guilty about all of those feelings I shared above!  I know that I am lucky  to have a hubby who is home evenings and weekends with us and who is a great help around the house and with the kids.  I shouldn't complain about doing the single parent thing, and honestly, that part of it hasn't been bad at all.  I just miss him.  And even then, it's only 5 days.  Even while I was in college we saw each other for only a few days at a time once or twice a month, and I didn't mind that one bit.  Although, I was in college, and not the mother of twin boys at the time!  I also know there are plenty of wives who's husbands are frequently away from home whether it be traveling for work or serving our country in the military. I am thankful that he is home with us so much!

My hope is that I learn something from this experience. I want to remember this week, and how it felt while he was gone when he's home, and we're arguing over something or mad about this or that.  That maybe I take him less for granted and be more grateful for the wonderful man I am lucky to call my husband. 

Keith on Our Wedding Day

Sorry it's such poor quality.

Unlike so many other bloggers out there, I am NOT the creative, artistic type. I'm a data girl.

Your Head Hurt?

Caden overheard my telling hubs I had a headache one evening. 

When I got off the phone with him, Caden says: "Mommy, you head hurt." 

I replied yes. 

He asks: "We're people screaming at work today mommy?"

How you get in there?

Lately, Caleb has been obsessed with how you get in pictures.  He's been walking around looking at photos displayed around our house asking, "how you get in there mommy?"

I have yet to come up with an acceptable answer for him.  How do you explain the digital camera & printing to a 4 year old?  I'll keep trying until he stops asking!

His favorite photograph to ask about, one of our engagement photos from Laura at Perception Studio!

You Need to Wear a Helmet

Last night, we were driving home, and we were following a fellow on a motorcycle through town.  This particular gentleman was not wearing a helmet, and my two boys had a lot to say about that!

It started with them telling me he wasn't wearing one, followed by a, but mommy, he should wear a helmet, that's bad. 

The conversation between the two of them continued.  I had stopped listening to the conversation, but hubby had continued to follow along, and soon told be to listen again.  Apparently, if we'd followed the whole conversation, the moral of the story was something like this:

He's not wearing a helmet.
That's bad, he should wear a helmet.
He's going to get an ouchy on his head.
He's going to get a boo boo. 
He's going to break his bones.
Then we can feed his bones to the doggies.

Moral of the story: Wear a helmet on your bike, even my 4 year olds know that isn't smart.  And heaven forbid something did actually happen, my kids would feed you to the dogs!

Cancer is a Scary Word

Prepare yourself, it's a long one.  I've had a heavy heart with a lot on my mind lately.

Two weeks ago this coming Monday, my mom went into the doctors office for a routine colonoscopy.  Everything went fine, my dad took her home.  Later that afternoon, my mom's friend and next ddoor neighbor was taking her to the emergency room.  It turns out, she had pneumonia.  She was admitted, and I spent my whole week driving 40 minutes one way to the hospital in the evenings to be there. 

She was released Friday to go home with strict orders not to over do it.  I loaded up Keith and the kids and headed over to pick her up.  They don't allow the kids in the hospital, but I thought it would be a nice surprise to have her grand-kids waiting in the car for her with her son-in-law.  And partially because, I wanted to spend some time with my kids!  (The weekend before she was admitted, I'd spend in Washington D.C./Baltimore with a college friend!)

While I went in to get her, we had to sit for awhile to wait for the final paperwork for release from the doctors and nurses.  In that time, she said that the doctor had been in that afternoon and shared the results of her colonoscopy.  They found cancer in a thing they'd removed during the procedure. 

My first reaction, so what's next?  At that time, they didn't know anything, and we still don't really.  She's currently waiting to hear from the oncologist for an appointment.

Cancer is a word, especially when you don't know any details or have a clue to the severity of which we need to be concerned.  I've spent a large portion of my week being very concerned, worried, and anxious.  Keith has been a great husband and supportive as I sit in tears at night. 

My co-workers and friends have asked how she's doing, assuming she's still recovering from her bout with pneumonia.  I have yet to be able to say it aloud.  I can't.  I've tried/thought about with some of my friends, but I haven't been able to yet.  Whether it's the fear that I'll burst into tears when I do, or the fact that I don't have enough information to satisfy my own curiosity let alone answer anyone's questions.  (I have keyboard courage to share with you all.)

It's greatly affected my mood this week, and I think it has something to do with my loss of motivation too.  I'm hoping that the 5K I registered for today will give me something to work towards again, and a release for the stress of everything so I can continue to be a better mother, wife, friend, and daughter. 

Motivation

I've been struggling with motivation lately for working out. I'm lucky if I'm getting two runs a week in the past few weeks.  I wish I had a better reason, other than I just am not getting out of bed in the morning to do it.  The heat has me slightly saddened about my running because I haven't been able to add much distance when it so stinking hot out there!

Sidebar: The high today was in the 90s.  The high tomorrow, according to www.weather.com, is only 75.  What the heck Ohio weather!?  I'll believe it when I feel it! 

I plan on getting a decent run in this weekend outside before hubby leaves town on Sunday.  I won't be able to squeeze in my morning runs if hubs isn't here to stay home with the kiddos!  Ideally I'll just use the treadmill in our basement, but knowing my motivation lately, I'd say that isn't likely. (I've already given up hope for tomorrow morning, but I'll set my alarm anyway!)

Perhaps the boys have noticed my lack of running, as they like to stretch with me afterward, but they had something to say tonight!  I put on my running shorts and a t-shirt after work this evening to take them to swim lessons, because it's too darn hot to wear much of anything else.  When the boys had their trunks on for lessons, they came to find me, and said "those shorts are for running" in a very matter of fact kind of statement. 

Perhaps I'll try to remember that when my alarm goes off at 5:30 tomorrow morning...

Then go make it yourself!

I came home from my pedicure at a friend's house tonight.  The boys were sitting on the couch watching Scooby Doo, and I swear Caleb had his hand in his pants.  Regardless our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Did you make mommy supper?"

Caleb: "Not yet."

Me: "But I'm hungry!"  (Very politely of course!)

Caleb: "Then go make it yourself."

Apparently he's not going to be interrupted!  (I'm sure he's heard me say that a time or two!)

Toy Story 3

We took the kids to see Toy Story 3 over the weekend.  As an avid Toy Story fan myself, I was also excited as pie to be seeing it finally!  It wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was still good!

As a mom, it certainly made me sad!  Thinking about my boys growing up and going off to college makes me terribly proud of them, but sad at the same time! 

What matters most, is that those two boys LOVED going to the movies!  They'd been talking about it all week leading up to it.  Caden was excited for the BIG screen.  Caleb was anxious about it being too loud.  Caleb started out in my lap, but before the move started, moved to Daddy's lap, and never left for the rest of the movie!  Caden informed me "I fine. I don't need you."  For about the first 3/4 of the movie, then the next thing I know he's moving my legs and crawling in!  I've never been so comfortable sitting in a theater with my little muffin wrapped up in my lap!

Fireworks!

We took the kids to see fireworks tonight.  Although they've seen fireworks before, this was the first time they'd really been to see them as an event with a seat up close, and they LOVED it!  I've always been a big fan of fireworks, but tonight, my enjoyment came from watching the boys soak in their first wonderful display of fireworks to celebrate our country's independence!  For me, the wonder in there eyes was enough happiness for me. 

Exhausted

I had a good weekend away alone with my good friend from college Claire!  But ever since coming home Sunday night, things have gone less than smoothly, and I'm exhausted. I came home Sunday evening to a messy house I was just irritated as my flight had gotten in later than planned.  I was exhausted from a weekend of late nights.  (I'll blog more about the trip later!)
Monday at work things started to turn around.  I finally had a reasonable about of meetings per week and could really get some work done.  Monday evening, I was home alone while Keith and the kids were running an errand when I got a call from my mom's good friend that she was in the emergency room waiting to be admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. 

Since then I've been heads down at working trying to accomplish lots amongst still getting the kids to swim lessons and appointments, trying to keep up with housework, and spend my evenings at the hospital, but there's just never enough time in a day.  And now I'm just exhausted, but there is so much on my mind sleep doesn't come easily. 

Maybe I'm crankier because I haven't worked out this week either because I'm so exhausted.  I plan on taking tomorrow off yet, and then getting a good run in Saturday morning outside before the heat comes back into town! 

My mom is doing better and hoping to go home soon.  I'm hoping that this long holiday weekend, where, for once, we don't have a jam packed weekend scheduled will allow the time we need to relax, recharge, and get back on track!