Art Projects

So, on our day off we decided to do an art project. :-) We started by cutting out words and pictures from magazines and pasting them, then we painted on top of it. To paint, we used yarn and ribbons as well as apples, potatoes and actual paint brushes. It was a lot of fun!

This last one is mine :-) My favorite quote in it is 'messy in a good way', though all of the phrases speak to me and carry a lot of meaning for me.

I love that I got to incorporate my Disneyland ticket and a fast pass from the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland too (one of my favorite rides)!

Reading

I woke up this morning feeling a bit antsy. After thinking about it, I realized that I need to find a new book or book series to get lost in. :) Every once in a while I just need to mix up my routine a bit. I need an escape and to live vicariously through a fictional character for a while.

So, I headed to Barnes and Noble and picked up the first two books of the Stephanie Plum series. I've had several people recommend them. They are not deep or philosophical, but they are fun for sure! This is really up my alley because life can often feel heavy enough for me. I don't need to read heavy books too.

So, tonight I plan on curling up with my new book to read the night away. :) It sounds heavenly!

Lately

I've been in a bit of a slump. Not really sure why. I've been sick. My hubby's been working a lot lately too. He's coaching basketball, which means I am home for a LOT of hours with the kids by myself. PLUS, we've been really buckling down money wise. I think all of that adds up to being a bit house bound and therefore a little down. At least there are reasons, I guess. But still...I'm feeling the need to mix it up a bit.

The rest are other random thoughts I have (in no particular order):

I finally worked out last night. It had been over a week since I'd done that. I really didn't want to go, but I'm glad that I went. I really did feel better afterwards.

I'm thinking about adding a streak or two to my hair. Blonde or red. Might do it this weekend or early next week. I'm excited to try it out. I haven't done that for a long time. :-)

I'm currently avoiding my laundry & my laundry room at this point too. It's such a cluster right now. Ugh!

The kids are banging around upstairs right now. I better go see what trouble they're into now.

Memories

My 8 year old son, Jehu, has been getting phone calls from friends lately. It's a new thing. He is officially getting older, and I am having all of these memories coming back of my own childhood.

I was asking Jehu why his friend from school was calling him everyday. They had just been together all day for goodness sakes. Jehu's response to this question is what brought it all back. He simply answered, 'I like to talk to him. It's just fun to talk on the phone, too!'

Wow. Now that he mentioned it, I DO remember getting home from school & immediately wanting to talk to my friends on the phone. :-) I guess it wasn't just a girl thing.

Then, I remembered something awesome. When I was in the 6th grade, I got a swatch twinphone for my room! This is a picture of the phone I actually had - color & all. (It was 1989 after all)

It was SO. COOL. Not only did I have a phone in my room, but I had a twin phone. The base of the phone was also a receiver. Which meant my BFF Erika could come over to my house & we could BOTH be on the phone talking to another friend! Hence, the twin phone.

It was seriously SO COOL. Are you getting the major coolness that was this phone? I am actually feeling giddy just thinking about it. :-)

My how the world has changed. Glad that I can remember the fun of days gone by and experience a little bit of history repeating itself through my kids.

Do you remember this?

I don't remember what it was actually about - weight-loss probably.

I don't know why, but this phrase has always stuck with me though. 'Stop the insanity!'

Again and again, situations arrive that are (in my opinion) crazy and I think 'stop the insanity!' The bad decisions that some people make, the way some people live their lives (no communication at all & then being surprised that it's not working so well), etc. 'Stop the Insanity!'

So, I thought I'd share. Can you relate?

*disclaimer: I am not a perfect person, by any stretch of the imagination, and I KNOW this. There is just a level of crazy/stupid that I cannot refrain from commenting on.

A few random thoughts and things...

1. If you have stumbled upon this blog & LIKE it - follow me! I've had a recent upswing in readers, and am loving it! Thank you!

2. Since my mom has been in Haiti, I have been in more consistent (& constant) contact with several of my extended family members as well as a few of my mom's good friends. They are all so worried about my mom, and want to know what's new. I think this is so sweet, so I will start by stating that. I love that everyone is worried about my mom's well being and want to know that she is safe.

Also, as much as I love that they care, why oh why do a few of them go from asking about my mom, to talking about their illnesses? I DON'T GET IT!

My grandma is the best at this. She really always has been. My grandmother is 85 years old. I am 31, so she is pretty young or at very least she is of a normal age to be a grandmother and great-grandmother. She has always acted very old. Even when she was still in her 50's, you'd have thought she was in her 70's because of how old she acted! There are people that are young at heart, and then there are the others and my grandmother is definitely in the 'others' category. I love her, but it's just true. :-)

This week, she has informed me all about her teeth, her bowels, her skin, her eating habits, and her abundant fears. Not only has she informed me about hers, but she then proceeded to ask me about MINE!! I kid you not, she asked me about my bowels! Okay grandma, I love you, but this is where I draw the line!

Lord, help me to never be like that!

Sadly, I had a similar conversation with my mother's friend as well, and she is in her 50's! Seriously?! Is there something about me that screams 'tell me about your poo' or something? I don't get it, and in case anyone would like clarification - please don't tell me about your poop or your bowels!

3. I watched Conan O'Brien's last Tonight Show. He is a class act! I loved what he said about not being cynical:

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Very wise. Conan, you will be missed!

Jack of All Trades

Sometimes, I feel a bit like a 'Jack of all Trades'. I obviously don't mean this in a literal sense, because I could never just go be a plumber or an electrician or a mechanic. My realm of knowledge is very, very limited for sure. But I've still been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe that just comes with the SAHM territory. We live on one income, so I try to do things myself as much as possible to save us money. It could just be part of my personality too, I guess. I'm almost always willing to try it. I am ALWAYS willing to ask questions about it for sure, or look it up online to figure things out. And, with Aaron working full time, I feel bad making up long lists of 'to-do's' for him when I feel like I'm perfectly capable to do them myself.

Anyways, the real reason I bring this thought up is because I realized that I feel most often like I can do a little of everything, but I'm not great at any of them. More than that, I don't really have any desire or passion to be great at any of the things that I can do either. Which, I suppose, is my real dilemma.

I've been thinking about the future a lot, as my kids keep get older. I know that I don't want to be a SAHM forever. I always knew that I'd like to pursue some form of work when my kids are older and in school full time. I also want the flexibility of schedule. I have done the two weeks off a year corporate job thing when I worked at Bank of America. It was a blessing to work there at the time, but I HATED that I had to miss everything while my family had holidays off and breaks and all of that. I know that unless I wanted to be a teacher too, it's not realistic to expect all of the same time off (and I am NOT a teacher). However, I would really like the flexibility to take some of that time off too!

So, after lots of thought - I have finally decided on going to school for cosmetology when Noah is in school full days. It is only a 1 year commitment to school. I know it would take a few years to build a clientele, but I think in the big picture it could be the kind of job that could offer me flexibility that is also a 'trade' I can have for the rest of my life.

Here is my mental/emotional dilemma though - can I do it? Will I succeed at it? I am decent at a lot of things but not great at any of them. Is this just going to be one more area that this rings true in? I am afraid that I will spend the money and the time and just be okay. Which in that business is not great. And, no offense to anyone, but I really do NOT want to end up working at some cost cutters or great clips or whatever.

So, this is me venting and word vomiting my worry, fear, insecurity or basic unsure-ity in myself, what I can do that I will enjoy & can also make money to help my family financially too. Awesome. I DO think I needed to write it all out though, because I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Very contemplative right now I guess.