Sep 14, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
I saw these questions floating around instagram and since I’ve been floundering for blogging material, I decided to answer them here.
I grew up… in the same bedroom, in the same house, on the same street, in the same state, attending the same church, from the day I was born until the day I got married.
Someone who has influenced me… my grandma. I lived next to her for 21 years and saw her almost every day. I hate being so far away from her now. I don’t know if I didn’t realize it when I was younger or if she’s always been like this, but she is so so funny. We laugh so hard every time we’re together we usually end up crying. I think that’s why she’s lived to be 91; they say laughter makes you live longer. When mom had the twins, Grandma took months off from her weekly card club so she could help out. She would do our grocery shopping and take one of us big kids with her every week. We’d do the shopping then stop at McDonalds for lunch. We’d always get Grandpa an apple pie while we were there because she adored him and knew he loved the pies. She taught me how to play rummy and told me that it’s important to always have a deck of cards handy. Just last week I was out with a friend and I pulled a deck of cards out of my purse when she mentioned teaching me a card game.
A thing that changed my world view… This isn’t change so much as an adjustment. I’ve always been anti abortion but it wasn’t until I was pregnant that I started to understand why some women might feel it’s their only option. I was SO SO sick the entire time and the only way for me to have physically felt better would have been for the baby to no longer be there. I wouldn’t have gotten an abortion to feel better, but those 272 days (but who’s counting) gave me more sympathy for others. For the record, if you’re thinking of having an abortion because you don’t think you can care for the baby, please give it to me. I will take all the babies I don’t have to carry inside me.
I am strangely good at… catching flies with my hand. I used to swat at them with towels, clothes, anything that had a good snap to it. I’ve learned the best way to catch them is approach them slowly then capture them in your fingers. They see the towel coming and they’re outta there. A hand catches them off guard. It’s not an exaggeration to say I’ve caught about 10 flies with my hand this summer. I’ve also been known to pet bees. I have so many talents.
A defining moment in my life was when… It took me a while to come up with an answer for this one. Seeing Josh Groban was one of the greatest moments of my life but it wasn’t defining. The best I could come up with was when I first felt bonded to Annabelle. I liked her when she was born and would have said I loved her, but it wasn’t any different than how I loved the children I babysat. I always felt like she was someone else’s child who was left at my house and the mother never came back. When she was about 6 weeks old I was singing You are My Sunshine and she smiled at me. It was the first time she reacted like that to something I did and it sealed the deal on our relationship. We’ve been mutual fans of each other ever since.
Recent discovery I can’t stop talking about when… Walmart grocery pickup. They always give me a bottle of cold water like I’ve been the one doing all the hard work. All I have to do is order online, show up, and have the groceries put in my car. It’s magical.
Something I’m struggling with right now is… my weight. I’ve been exercising and eating all the right foods without one bit of improvement. I weigh the same now as I did the day I had Annabelle. I lost all my pregnancy weight by my 6 week appointment but here we are. I am so self conscious about it. I generally keep things light and breezy around here but sometimes the heavy topics (lolz) come up.
My magical reset button is… a walk on the beach or a good nap. Unfortunately we don’t live near the beach and my sweet child doesn’t provide many opportunities for naps.
In 3 months, ask me about… how my diet/exercise routine is going. Bring klondike bars in case it hasn’t been going well.
Sep 6, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
I don’t mean to brag, but I learned yesterday that I’m the mayor of America.
I always wanted to be the First Lady and consider this a pitstop on the way to achieving my goal. Annabelle informed me of my new political office then said she worked at city hall and would help me with mayor things. I said I wanted a list of students at the town school (in her bedroom) and she said she couldn’t do that because she’s not the teacher. I asked her to make a list of the jobs in town and she didn’t want to. I asked for a snack but she refused to get me one. She will not be in charge of my reelection campaign.
Of course nothing can top my big political gains, but we went to Aldi grocery store on Monday and that was pretty close. Eighteen-year-old Sarah would have been so embarrassed if she knew how excited I was about going. I shopped at Aldi’s all the time in New York but haven’t been in months. The closest one is almost two hours away so I can’t run in whenever I need something. Our original Labor Day plans were canceled due to weather, so we made new plans that revolved around a trip to Aldis.
At this point I’d like to pause and say that I assume you all want to spend the weekend with us. A trip to the grocery store! What fun! What more could you ask for? I’ll be opening my travel agent business next week.
We picked up Jason’s Deli for lunch then drove to a park for lunch. Annabelle instantly dropped her hot dog on the sandy ground and I washed it off with my water bottle. She took two bites then dropped it again. That’s how I learned my limit for washing off hot dogs is two. After lunch we went wading in the river. It was so pretty. It had rocks creating mini waterfalls and little streams. There were little pools deep enough for AB to “swim” in but swallow enough she could stand. Unfortunately, navigating the slippery rocks was like an octopus trying to ice skate. It was a mess. People were slipping and sliding all over the place. I’m surprised Annabelle didn’t get her arm pulled out of the socket after all the times we had to pull her up.
Actual footage of our walk over the rocks. No matter how many times I reminded her to walk slowly, she went down over and over and over again.
I managed to not fall and get soaking wet so I was the only one who went into Aldis. I had my cart quarter, my bags and my lengthy list. It’s was like being reunited with an old friend. An old friend who was plotting against me. I knocked over not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR displays. I knocked over something in almost every aisle. It was so embarrassing. I was a bull in a china shop. I shouldn’t even have to do my own grocery shopping. After all, I am the mayor. Don’t I have a person for that?
Aug 24, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
It’s been a rollercoaster week for my pride. Last Saturday someone at the church paint day asked if I was in the youth group. I puffed out my feathers like a peacock that someone would think I was a youth when in reality I am on the brink of a new decade that starts with a th and ends with a irty. My hair was up (there is no other way to wear your hair when it’s regularly 99* degrees) and I was pleased she didn’t notice the patch of grayish white hair behind my ear. And it’s not white because we were using white paint and I accidentally got some on my head.
Yesterday a nurse was getting my information and said, “You’re yawning a lot. Do you have a living will?” Excuse me? First of all, I was coughing not yawning. Second of all, I fail to see how yawning and a living will are related. Turns out she had said, “You’re young but do you have a living will?” It would seem my ears are aging rapidly and I need to make an appointment with an audiologist asap.
I picked up a new Hallmark dvd at the library on Tuesday. I love Hallmark movies. The cheesier the better. I could not love Hallmark Christmas movies more. The dvd has three movies which is three times the romance and predictability. Christopher watched one with me because he owes me for all the action/James Bond/boring documentaries movies I’ve sat through over the years. Least you think he shares my joy of Hallmark, he does not. He sat there on his phone and made comments like, “That’s so cheesy they should call this movie Swiss Cheese” and “It’s obvious they’re going to get married.” I don’t need type of negativity in my life. I want someone to share my tv viewing enthusiasm!
Speaking of tv viewing, we’ve been watching Mr. Roger’s lately. He’s so calm and pleasant to watch. He was talking about how sometimes there are things we don’t understand but we can ask an adult to help us. He asked if the viewers had an adult they could ask. I thought AB would answer that it’s her mother because I’ve taught her everything she knows including, but not limited to, how to use the potty and speak. Who do you think taught her about Monet and artists of the 1800’s? Who do you think sings the continents song with her? Alas, she did not say me. She looked at Mr. Roger’s and without missing a beat said, “I can ask my dad. He knows everything.”
There’s the mothering self-esteem boost I was looking for!
Aug 20, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
I have a goal to blog more but I don’t have much to say so do I blog anyway to reach my goal? Yes. It’s quantity over quality.
Let’s break out the ol’ bullet points.
* Annabelle is really enjoying school. Granted she’s only been three times and the excitement could wear off, but she’s still riding the high of her new backpack. I think it’s been a bigger adjustment for me. I enjoy the alone time but I also like having her around. She has Tuesday and Thursday off so on Thursday we stayed in our pajamas late, played in the sandbox, went to Chickfila for lunch.
We tried some new hairstyles.
We even took a girls nap on the big bed. I knew she was exhausted but wouldn’t want to sleep, so I told her we should pretend to be birds in a nest. A few minutes later she was snoring away. We paid for the two hour nap later that night when she didn’t want to sleep but it was enjoyable while it lasted.
* I walked around the grocery store yesterday with a large piece of tape stuck to the bottom of my shorts. Neither Christopher nor AB said anything. It accented the paint smears on my legs. I’ll be starting my fashion blog soon!
* A lady from church asked if I could help them repaint some of the walls in the nursery and Sunday school areas. I went with several other people all of whom were wearing the nicest paint clothes I’ve ever seen. Everyone showed up in crisp, clean clothes. I really questioned whether they thought they would be painting or walking around a fancy garden center. I was wearing capris smeared with four colors of paint and a shirt with a bleach stain. My old sneakers squeaked every time I took a step. I stood out like a sore thumb. The area we were painting had several long hallways and I took the walls near the people I know. It had too many corners and crevices but I made it my personal mission to do it well. I’m not great at many things but I am a good painter. I pride myself in excellent taping and straight lines. I might leave a few drips on the floor but that’s what area rugs are for. I wanted to tape a sign to the wall so people would know which area I did. When we were at church this morning I made a beeline for my area. I wanted to see it in all it’s finally-dry glory. Someone had the audacity to do another coat and smeared the white chair rail paint into the gray of the walls. I almost cried tears of sadness/rage.
* Stylin Sesame even in her sleep.
Aug 7, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
We had an unusually relaxing weekend. We didn’t have much planned and everything fell together nicely which doesn’t always happen around here.
On Friday we had friends over for lunch then we all went to the pottery painting shop. Annabelle painted a mermaid statue that will no doubt collect dust under her vanity. When I attempt to relocate it (aka donate or throw it away) after three months of ignoring it she will say it’s her favorite toy on earth and be devastated I considered getting rid of it. We’ve been down this path before.
As we were leaving the pottery place, my friend asked if we had evening plans. I said no so she volunteered to watch Sesame while we went on a date. Letmethinkaboutit YES PLEASE. She’s been so kind to us since we moved here but giving up her own quiet Friday night to watch our chatterbox made me want to kiss her feet.
She told me about a new restaurant and said the view was worth the drive. It did not disappoint.
I loved the date but the highlight of the weekend for me was taking AB out for her first pedicure. I’ve painted her nails at home but she’d never been to a spa. She loved it. She giggled at the bubbling water and changing lights. She told the nail lady 16 times that she picked orange. She talked about everything in sight. She put her hands behind her head, leaned back and said, “I’m going to relax now.”
I hate that she’s growing up so fast but doing things like this together are so much fun!
 |
| We won’t lose these bright little toes. |
Aug 2, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
My garden is doing horribly this year. The green beans wilted, the carrots never came up and I haven’t gotten one tomato. The tomato plants look full and lush but looks can be deceiving! I’ve had plenty of green tomatoes but the bugs eat them before they get past the palest orange stage. This has never happened in my 20+ years of gardening. No matter where I’ve lived I have planted a garden every summer. It’s one of the few constants I cling to. I’ve thrown probably 30 rotten tomatoes into the woods. I had a big summer goal of making a meal of homemade bread and homegrown tomatoes. Looks like I’ll be eating my bread with store bought tomatoes.
Speaking of bugs, we had our house sprayed for roaches. I saw what I believed to be a mouse run through the kitchen twice. Both times the kitchen light was off but it was light enough to see something scurrying. We didn’t see any signs of mice in the pantry so Christopher said it must be roaches. So that’s great. I’ve killed several bugs longer than 2 inches but for me to think what I saw was a mouse means it had to be even bigger. At the Y yesterday I saw a bug on the ground larger than Annabelle’s hand so that must be what it was. A man came to spray and since then I’ve found little piles of dead roaches around the house. When I say I want country themed decor I don’t mean I want live/recently killed animals in my house.
My car has been invaded by ants. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN. I’ve vacuumed it out multiple times but I keep seeing those little black ants scurrying around.
It’s either 174* here or it’s pouring.
On to less Debbie Downer topics!
AB has a pretty firm grasp on our country and can identify several states and who lives there. She knows where the White House is, who the president is and what the First Lady does. We’ve talked about the United States ever since she was old enough to have a conversation. Several weeks ago I was explaining to Annabelle the history behind the 4th of July. I went into detail about the 13 colonies, delegates, the Revolutionary War, taxes from England, the whole thing. I finished up the lesson by saying that America is a great nation and we should be thankful we live here. She pondered the information for a minute then said, “Wow. That sounds like a great place. I’d like to live there someday.” I guess we’ll be going back to square 1.
“Look, Mama! I’m standing like a sunflower.”
Sesame likes to use afternoon quiet time to reaccessorize. Her recent favorite is putting her bathing suit and/or her bumble bee tights on over her clothes. They don’t call her stylin’ Sesame for nothing!
My friend Amy came over for a visit today. Annabelle threw up during the night and she had a fever so I warned Amy she might have the stomach bug and I’d understand if she didn’t want to come. She said she could get germs anywhere and she would still come. I am SO glad she did. We’ve been here almost the same exact amount of time and we’re both having trouble adjusting. Sometimes you need to spend a few hours commiserating about how hard life is.
I made us dentist appointments the other day. I found the dentist on the insurance website and left a message on their machine. The next day a lady called me and said “Hi, it’s me. You called and left a message.” ???????? Normally people identify themselves but I’m not so good on the phone myself so maybe I shouldn’t talk. Finally, she clarified where she was calling from and she started to get our information. I don’t have a hard name to spell. It’s been on the top 100 girl names lists since 12 BC.
Her: What’s your name?
Me: Sarah with an H.
Her: So that’s S-h-e-
Me: S-a-r-a-h
Her: S-a….what’s next?
Me: R. S long pause A long pause R
Her: S-a-r-s-r-a-h
Me: ………………………………………………………………S…….A……R……A……H.
Her: And what’s your daughter’s name?
You can use your imagination on how spelling her name went.
