Le tour

Today is stage 9 of Le Tour de France. Just in case you didn't already know that. Today they ended in one of the cities I lived in on my mission, Tarbes.

Tarbes is a small city, not as pretty as other french towns, and is in the south, not too far from Les Pyrénées. There I was introduced to all things french. French driving, french food, Leader Price, Champion, mille-feuilles, pain au chocolat, la belle langue française, train rides, les cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs), small cheap french apartments, HLM elevators.... Even though Tarbes isn't as pretty, or have any chateaus, and their cathedral isn't a Gothic one (it's Roman), it holds a special place in my heart. I love it. I asked Matt this morning if we could fast forward to the end of the race so that I could see Tarbes. Maybe if I get in the shower, by the time I get out, they'll be in Tarbes. (this link is different, you can access a webcam at this link)

And, on Tuesday, they start in Limoges!!!!! I served there too!! Talk about hills to ride your bike on! Of course these riders are used to hills, but they about killed me in Limoges.

I tell you people, sometimes I think I should have been born french.

I am SUCH a mom

Last Friday, as you know, we went out to the big city on a date with a friend of my husbands, who we'll call P and his date M. I had a great time, and enjoyed being with my husband. But I realized something after that evening: I am a mom. I know, I know, yes, I'm a mom. But it was like I couldn't stop talking about my kids, or the fact I had fruit snacks and a granola bar in my purse, along with hand sanitizer. It was as if all intelligent conversation in my brain left, and because my kids weren't there, that was all I could talk about.

It's not a terrible thing, not even a bad thing. But P and M aren't married, and don't have kids. And I'm sure I sounded like some sad little SAHM that never got out and that had no life other than her children. While at the moment, yes, my life is mostly about my children, I do lots more than that. I read a ton of different books about all kinds of things. I am trying to get involved with our FRG, I've traveled lots and lots of places, had tons of experiences. I've got a lot to offer, but for some reason, couldn't talk about all that other stuff.

I have this problem in other areas too. If someone mentions France or Germany, I can't shut up. I will talk nonstop about it. At least I notice it, right? It would be even more sad if I wasn't aware of what I was doing.

And I did talk of other things too, but I felt like I just kept going back to the mom thing. M had spent time at an Army Depot in Utah, and so we talked about small town Utah (such a sad place, those small towns), her dad is a member of our church, so we talked about that, she's active duty army, so of course talked about army stuff, about deployment.....sigh.

Mental note: must talk of more than just children and being a mom next time. Not to mention don't tell Matt how to drive while other people are in the car. Makes me look like a crazy person. (ok, so I am a little crazy, but regardless, I need to stop.)

Camera woes and karaoke bars

Friday night, I walked our kids to our neighbors before we left for our date. I left my purse (containing my camera amongst other things) next to the car we were taking. While I was at our neighbors chatting away, Matt had gotten in the car, and was waiting for me outside. In the process of doing that, he ran over my purse. Which means he ran over my camera. So, it's kinda my fault as he had no idea my purse was there. Oh well. I found another one, better than my old one, and I'm getting it for much less than in the stores. Yay ebay!

So, as a result of my camera problems, I wasn't able to take any pictures of Matt and I out on our date. We were meeting a friend of Matt's in the big city here, and we went out to dinner and to a Karaoke bar. It was pretty fun.

I don't get out much. I used to go out a lot when I was younger, and I just don't do that anymore. I sit at home and watch reruns of Frasier. Or my weekly Burn Notice. Or What Not to Wear. I rarely go out in public, especially where people are drinking, and drinking lots. It was kind of fun to watch people dance and go crazy, sing totally out of rhythm (so bad they sounded like they were trying to syncopate it), sing totally off key, watch an old man sing old country songs, watch my husband sing Bon Jovi (which he totally rocked at), and sing along with all the other songs I knew. I had a great time. There was a guy that was AMAZING. He sang New York, New York and was awesome. It was totally unexpected. he didn't look like a "singer", especially by the name that he put down. Doobs. I mean, you don't expect a guy with a name like that to get up and not even have to use the mic because his voice was so powerful and awesome. All of us just sat there stunned. We couldn't wait to hear what he did next. Then there was a guy that reminded all of us of Jack Black, who really got into what he was singing and actually performed. He was also awesome.

All in all, it was a great night. It felt good to be in a city. It also felt good to be out with my husband. Without children. Can't wait for our next date!

Going out on the town!!

Tonight, we are going to the big city and meeting up with a friend of my husband that he met within these last few months. As I love the big city, I am very excited!! And for more than one reason.

My husband isn't what you'd call a social butterfly. He doesn't put himself out there, making a ton of friends, and then keep in contact with people. That just isn't his thing. I've only ever met one person from his mission and never met anyone from high school. He's just a quiet guy. Well, in public he is.:) At home, not so much.

And then there is me. I still talk to people (before facebook and myspace) from high school, my mission, and the friends I made before I got married. I still talk to friends I met just after I got married. I still keep in contact with the friends I made at every duty station since we've been in the Army. I call them, I email them, friend them on facebook, and read their blogs. We've met up with several of my friends at different places, and I know Matt gets a little tired of it.:)

So, I am pretty excited to go and hang out with his friend tonight. I guess we're going to go sing karaoke. Or, THEY are going to sing karaoke. I'll be happy to sit and watch. And bring my camera of course.:)

Bed

I just made my bed.

Growing up, I hated HATED making my bed. I couldn't understand what the point of all of it was. I mean, NO ONE would come into my room (well, hardly anyone) between the time I woke up and went to bed. So, what was the point of making my bed? Who cares? I thought it was yet again, another pointless chore that my mother would make me do.

Now.......I haven't had my kids make their beds hardly ever. But since we've been in this house (and I got a new quilt for my bed that actually fits and looks good and will look even better when we get our room organized) I have been trying to make my bed. I have a cal king bed. So I am walking back and forth about five times just to make the bed. When I change the sheets, I actually get out of breath because of all the work. (we also have a memory foam mattress. heavy.) I've helped the kids make their beds too. And they are even happy to do it! Well, most of the time. It is the one spot in their rooms, as well as mine, that looks good.

It's a hard thing to change, to go from not making them to making them, and I'm working on doing it. Hopefully it will help me to be motivated to make other small changes that can make a big difference. So far, I've managed to read my scriptures every morning for almost a year, have my dishes done every morning, sweep my floors regularly (thank you pretty broom), get my laundry on a schedule, and now make our beds. Next up: cleaning the bathrooms a lot more often. Using my yummy smelling cleaners is always a good motivator!! I almost LIKE cleaning the bathrooms.......almost.

It makes me want to sit down

I'm almost done with the boxes in my house. So far, I've been able to hold to one box a day. I don't have that many left.

On top of unpacking, of course now there are the regular, daily chores like dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, making dinner, laundry, bathrooms.......

The most difficult thing is their toys. It's as if they are taking over their bedrooms and the loft. They have so many toys. They do not need this many toys. Even when I do pick them up, or have them help me do it, they pull them all out. It feels so overwhelming to have to organize them, find all of them homes, keep all the puzzle pieces together, the blocks together......you get the idea. Time to feed the Goodwill box in the garage with toys. It's already been fed with my shoes, scooby doo sheets and comforter, Christmas place mats, curtains I haven't used since we left Germany......can't wait to add more.

And then there's our closet. Matt's clothes are overwhelming it! He's just been so busy at work, and gets home late.........hopefully this week he'll get to it. He did attack the garage today, thank goodness. That makes me feel better. Next step: shelves. Things piled in the corner bother me. Especially when he's gone and I'm trying to find the Halloween decorations, and I have to move half the stuff because I can't see the bin labeled "Halloween decorations". Yes. Shelves. Aren't shelves happy thoughts? :)

Next thing I want to do is hang things on the walls. But our rental company wants us to use these special monkey hook things that only leave these little tiny holes in the walls. Still need to find them.....meanwhile, everything is just leaning against the dining room walls......

Blech. I think it's just late and I'm tired of unpacking and organizing. So, rather than doing it, I would just rather sit down.

Small town life

This weekend is our little towns annual fair. It started yesterday with a parade, and the carnival rides will be at the park until tomorrow night.

This is the first time I've ever been to a parade that had tractors in it, with one even doing doughnuts on the parade route. And school children riding unicycles. Or the local Red Hat Society walking around dressed in purple with a giant red hat on the cab of a small pickup truck. What I thought was the funniest, were the people that had to follow all the animals pushing a wheelbarrow or carrying a big bucket. And the shovels. That, for some reason, just made me laugh. Or, one of the slogans of a local farming company: The Poop Starts Here.

On our walk home from the parade, we met a horse.
She (or he) really liked Andrew. And for some reason, being this close to a horse was so exciting that it eclipsed all the excitement of the parade. I'm sure we'll see this horse again.

Here is what my banner picture really looks like. Took this not long after we saw our horse friend. Enjoy.