Sep 16, 2024 | What's going on |
I started listening to The Perfect Couple last week. I told Christopher about it, and said I couldn’t decided if I should finish the book before watching the show on Netflix. I said it wasn’t his kind of story so either way, I’d watch it without him. The next day I asked him, purely for conversations sake, who he thought commited the crime. Without knowing anything about the story, he said the caterer did it. We discussed it at least three times. Last night, he saw The Perfect Couple pop up on Netflix and said, “Oh hey! I heard a story about that show on BBC today and it sounded pretty good. We should give it a try.” He truly thought he was presenting a new show for us. Dude. Come on. We talked about it multiple times in the last 72 hours but nothing stuck until the credible source that is BBC brought it up.
AB and I went to Party City this afternoon. Our local location is closing and everything is 80% off. A few weeks ago, the items were only 5% off. Five percent is literal pennies. At that point, why even bother saying it’s on sale. It barely makes a dent on the reciept. This time I spent $37 and saved $140. I feel like I saved one million dollars and wanted to reward myself for saving money by buying myself a coffee. Hashtag girl math.
In the total opposite of saving one million dollars, we recently purchased a new car. That was not in our plans for the next several years, but Christopher’s car was recently hit by a man on a moped which sped up its demise. I almost hit the same man in the same exact spot a few weeks later. Once again, he was riding his moped the wrong way on a one-way road. Clearly being flipped over a hood and landing in the middle of the road wasn’t a wakeup call. I know next to nothing about car shopping. I fulfill every stereotype of a woman not knowing how to buy a car. I don’t know what to ask. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to hurt the salesmans feelings if I don’t like something. The only questions I could think of was about gas milage. I knew that I wanted a cd player (don’t come at me about itunes, I KNOW all about it), a regular key, and plenty of glove compartment space for my mobile coffee shop. I wanted the blinker to sound nice and good trunk space. I do know I like Lincoln Navigators, but until a rich uncle dies and leaves me a hefty inheritance, I will continue to shop secondhand at Nissan. The plan was for Christopher to take my car and me to take the new car. It felt like an intense amount of pressure to choose the right vehicle that I will have for the next 8-10 years, if all goes well and I am not attacked by a moped. We finally decided on one, and Christopher kept asking if I was sure I liked it. How can I make such a big decision?! I am too much on a penny pincher to make large purchases. How can possibly know if a car will be good when I’ve only spent 15 minutes test driving it? The new car has a push button start instead of a real key and does not a CD player, but those who have yet to grow a money tree cannot be picky. The blinker sounds good, and my mobile coffee shop has been supplied with a new stash of straws from Dunkin Donuts. I’m rolling through town like a cool mom.
We recently had our family pictures taken. Normally we’re romping through the fields for pictures, but I won a photo session at a studio in Florida. It was a very fancy operation. Several nice ladies called prior to the photoshoot to discuss wardrobe, the color scheme of our home, where our portraiture of heirloom quality would be displayed, the personalities of the family members, etc. The personalities of two thirds of the family members is that they don’t like having their pictures taken so I apologized in advance. We arrived at the studio to champaign flutes of sparkling cider waiting for us on a tray. There was a lifesize portrait of a couple with their four dogs wearing layered Victorian collars hanging on the wall to our left. That piece cost many thousands of dollars but like they reminded us, these pieces are meant to last for three to four hundred years and as such, the price tag reflects the quality. I can only hope that my great great great great grandchildren will be impressed with our (inexpensive) Amazon boutique dresses and eight year old tie when they gaze upon these works of fine art. Our friends, the royals of England, recently released new photos and videos of themselves so it only seems fitting to now release our own photos. 
We do not have the canvas versions yet. They’re being printed and framed in Europe and will arrive around Thanksgiving. Normally I get my pictures printed at Walgreens so this is a big step up. We opted out of the six foot lifesize version. In case there’s a house fire, I must be able to re-enact Dolley Madison carrying the portrait of George Washington out of the White House and have the ability to easily grab my timeless work of art. We will never again look this good. I will not let us go up in smoke! 
Rebecca Rose Fine Portraits
Jun 22, 2024 | Currently, What's going on |
Because my birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend, Christopher had an extra day off work and we
were able to visit a lighthouse and beach in Florida.
Carol had Grandma call me to say happy birthday.
That night, my facetime with Autumn and Joanna morphed into a facetime with
Katie, Mom and Elizabeth as well. The more the merrier!
We visited Jenn after eleven long years apart. We did everything together at Fort Campbell. We probably saw each other four times a week and talked on the phone just as much. Then she dared move to Korea
and I wasn’t sure we’d ever be reunited. Lo and behold, she’s settled a few hours from us in Alabama.
We kept in contact all these years and picked up right where we left up- with talking about people
we follow on instagram and laughing.
It’s no easy feat getting pictures of/with Sesame these days. Gone are the days of plopping her little baby self in a chair and taking 48 pictures. I’ve found the best approach is the surprise photo. No warning.
Just stick up the camera or phone and tell her to smile.
We celebrated our best guy on Father’s Day. Annabelle googled his gift. “perfect, small but not too small corn hole that’s light weight, and cheap but also good that my dad will like!!!”
She found a cornhole game that checked all the boxes.
I took upwards of 24 pictures of my hydrangeas. Since moving here, I’ve looked at the non-flowering shrubs and told myself to research how to make them bloom. This year, it decided to bloom without me doing one thing. Sometimes laziness pays off!
Not pictured:
the snake in our upstairs closet
5,276 hours of VBS volunteering
AB’s 48 hour at-home EEG where the machine failed on us and only recorded 2 hours
May 10, 2024 | What's going on |
I have a phrase I like to use when things go wrong- TLDs. Technical Life Difficulties. It’s used when the store is out of whole milk, you forget to pick up a prescription, or you miss an important phone call. I present a list of TLDs from the last two weeks.
– The washing machine is not washing properly.
– The dryer is not drying properly. I know how to fix it but I haven’t done it yet. It’s a production to pull it out from the wall and detach various vents and hoses.
– The kitchen sink leaked again. I fixed that as I am the family plumber. I have spare parts on standby for such a time as this.
– The ice maker in the freezer is not working. The last time this happened, I had the repair man explain how to fix it. I did everything he said but couldn’t get the icebox part out to fix it. The repair man came back to assess the situation. He looked at it for a solid 30 seconds before announcing that it was a frozen solid block of ice that would require significant repairs. He showed me all the recalls on our particular model and said he could charge me upwards of $300 to repair it, but instead suggested I call Samsung directly to complain. Samsung required we send them a video proving that our ice machine is truly not giving ice. Are people out there saying they can’t get ice when they really can? If I was going to try pulling a fast one on a company, it wouldn’t be over literal frozen water. TBD if they come through and fix it for free.
– No sooner had I finished with that repairman, than I had to let in the other repairman to fix the hot water heater. When I showed him the hot water heater, he asked where the other one was. I didn’t know some houses have two. I said we only have one and he asked if I was sure. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure. Was it possible there was a giant white cylinder sitting in some corner that I was not aware of? He eventually decided we were a one-heater household.
– You’d think that would be the end of my interactions with repairmen, but no! It keeps going! The ac went out as well. A man came one month ago to check the units and told me that the compressor was running on such and such units and it should be running on such and such units. Or maybe he said it wasn’t using units. Perhaps it was overreacting from too much ampage in the cooling fluid. Most of what he said went over my head even though I asked him to repeat it. Bottom line, he said it would need to be replaced within the next several months. The “next several months” happened this week. A different man from the same company came and asked how old our unit is. Why do companies think I know these details? I don’t know how old the unit is! I don’t understand how the thing works! Just fix it, please!
– The handle keeps falling off the back screen door.
– The cats pushed the screen out of the window and wandered about the neighborhood for several hours. Lucy had the decency to return home and was sitting on the porch waiting to be brought it. Linus was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t notice they were gone until 10pm, so I was wandering the backyard in my pajamas while wearing rain boots. I dragged AB out of bed for strength in numbers. We shook the treat bag and called his name to no avail. I was devasted for Annabelle. She ADORES him. Linus is a cat of comfort who is scared of his own tail. He is a cat who whines for cheese and he is given cheese. He is not prepared for life in wild suburbia. While we were searching I saw Clare Cat, Linus’ girlfriend, on the other side of the porch. The dude ran off to be with a girl. After several hours of worrying about his gruesome death or the new life he was creating with Clare Cat, I looked outside one more time and there he was on the deck. He hissed when I picked him up then had the adacity to waltz himself over to the refrigerator, like he had done nothing wrong, and meow for cheese.
– Christopher was gone all week on a business trip. His luggage never made it on the plane at the first airport. It slowly followed him to various airports across the country but never caught up with him. It showed up on our doorstep this afternoon, the same day he is due to arrive home.
– Finally, the rotisserie chicken I bought for an easy supper was so hot, that it melted the grocery bag and left a stain on my newly cleaned car rug.
I think it wise I not leave the couch. I risk it crumbling under me if I move in the wrong direction.
May 4, 2024 | Sesame, What's going on |
Another show is in the books. 
I was allowed a brief selfie when dropping AB off before the first show.
“Mom!! I have to go!! Cora is going in before me!! I neeeeeed to gooooo!!!!”
The wheel on Hook’s ship was Christopher’s when he was a little boy. It’s been hanging around in our craft room for years and finally got its moment in the literal spotlight. 
AB was a Lost Boy which was a very appropriate role for her. She seldom knows what’s going on in life.
All the Lost Boys were dressed as animals and she picked black bear. I thought she looked adorable. “Mom, I think I’m supposed to go with accuracy, not adorable. Perhaps we should get me a tail.”
The little boy who initially had the role of the crocodile had too much stage fright and pulled out of the show early on. I offered to fill in but needless to say, Sesame Black Bear was not on board with sharing the stage with her mother. Wearing matching show shirts is about her limit these days. 😉
Mar 21, 2024 | What's going on |
reading: Diana, Closely Guarded Secret. It’s written by Princess Diana’s bodyguard of several years which means the information is high on accuracy and low on gossip. I don’t like to bring gossipy books into the house because of the looks I’ll get from the other two. After reading it, I decided that Diana and Charles, who both morally fell short in many ways, are equally misrepresented by the media. Charlie isn’t as bad and Diana isn’t as great and saintly as she’s remembered to be. Please come to my speech next week when I discuss my many detailed thoughts on the infamous car crash.
watching: endless episodes of The Great British Bakeoff. AB loves it and it’s family-friendly so we’ve blazed through several seasons. She can tell you who won which challenge in the fourth episode of the seventh season. Does she remember which bathroom her toothbrush is in? Probably not. We discovered that there’s a GBBO musical that has become the soundtrack to our life when we’re not watching the show.
emotionally preparing for: AB’s 10th birthday. She told me when it was only 10 days away. I didn’t need that countdown calendar. I don’t like countdowns. When I was pregnant with her and knew my due date was April 2nd, I refused to look at the calendar and see what day of the week that fell on. I knew if I had that information, I’d say, “I only have ___ number of Wednesdays left until my due date, ” which would stress me out more. I already knew how many weeks I had left given that pregnancy is counted in weeks, but knowing that particular day of the week was a bridge too for my very emotionally fragile self. What a delight I was for those 39 weeks, 5 days.
photographing: all the flowers. We’re in the 22 days of glorious spring. Before we know it, it will hit 104* where it will stay until October. Until then, we’re loving the sunshine.
returning: to Zumba. I’ve been hit or miss (mostly miss) with zumba since I had surgery over two years. Between stomach pain from exercising and not belonging to the Y anymore, it wasn’t something that ever worked out. I found out that the zumba instructor from the Y opened up her own studio so I went a few weeks ago. It was so fun to go back and I didn’t have any pain. I still zumba very much like a white lady and in the heat of the music confused left and straight, but I dance for over 2 miles so I say it’s a win.
saying yes: too many school things. Between subbing, setting up for events, and the teacher lunches I’m in charge of, I’m constantly at the school. I told Christopher that after I completed my three commitments there this month, I wouldn’t say yes to any more school things. I didn’t sign up to help with the book fair or to help monitor the orchastra petting zoo, both of which I normally would have done. AB’s drama director recently took the job as the theater teacher at her school. She texted me yesterday about the decor I used when we set up a special snack week in the teacher’s lunch room. I took pages out of a book from the little free library and made them into a table runner. She was wondering if she could use the decor for Little Women. I said of course. I should have stopped there. Instead, I said, “If the table runner got dirty, I’d be happy to make you another one!” WHY. Why do I make more work for myself.
Mourning: Sesame Pie’s upcoming birthday. I know I already mentioned it, but it’s in seven days and I wrap my head around that.
Feb 15, 2024 | What's going on |
I saw an influencer on Instagram yesterday who spent the day filming a mob wives style video to announce a new product. She spent hours in full glam hair and makeup while wearing pearls, fur, and leather.
I spent half an hour that morning in the Walmart parking lot waiting for my grocery pickup to come out to my car. It never showed up. Come to find out, I was at the wrong Walmart. I got to the right Walmart, parked in the same spot I’ve always parked for pickup, and waited longer. Come to find out, they had moved the pickup spot. Ninety minutes later, I returned home with the groceries I had ordered because I thought it would be quicker than going into the store.
The influencer and I were living identical lives.
+++
On Friday we did our second Night to Shine.
I did red carpet last year and loved it. I requested it again this year but was given the role of buddy. Put me one-on-one with a child (or even better, a baby) any day of the week. I’m a little more hesitant with special needs given my lack of experience. I was paired up with Lula. She was very go-with-the-flow but knew what she wanted. She enjoyed waving to pedestrians out the limo window as we drove around the parking lot. Let’s not lie- I did too. It’s not often I’m chauffered in a black limo so I had to make the most of it. Lula wasn’t interested in the therapy dogs or horses, but she wanted to eat and dance. She made a few crafts and was tickled with the picture she colored. She was a crazy woman on the dance floor. I couldn’t understand everything she said, but she clearly sang every word to every song. When I crowned her at the very end, she asked several times if her tiara was real. That’s the most important question of all, Lula. We all need to know our tiara is real.
