So, I seem to have forgotten a lot this week. Between Andrew starting school, that horrible day on Wednesday, and just getting through these last few days, I totally forgot that Andrew had a little talk at church and that I was playing the piano for church. And that I was supposed to choose the songs and have called the person that does the program on Tuesday night. I remembered all of that yesterday. So I quickly threw together a talk for Andrew. Then I went through the hymn book and perused through songs. I had tried to call and find out what the speakers were speaking on. But they never called back. The songs I chose seemed to be ok. Then I messed up on every song. I guess at one of my mistakes I stuck out my tongue as I was getting frustrated. I think I had about 10 things going on in my mind as I was playing which didn't help. On top of which Lucy was stinky all morning. Then once she decided to start behaving, Andrew took up the role of stinky kid. And then Andrew wouldn't even say anything when it was time for him to talk. Needless to say I'm glad that this week is done. But Matt will be in the ER all day tomorrow. So we don't get much of a holiday weekend. And Lucy turns 3 this week. Here's to hoping I remember things this week..........
(gosh I sound whiny this last few posts. maybe tomorrow I'll find something positive to post about)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
What's in a name???
Naming your kids. Not an easy thing for most of us. I was lucky. With both my kids, as soon as I knew what sex they were going to be, I knew what their name was going to be. Mostly because I had picked them out a few years earlier.
A few months ago, I wrote this post.
I forgot to mention in this post that many years before, I had discussed that name with my friend and she said she liked it, and I said I didn't. And we had discussed it a few other times. So, I wasn't expecting them to change it. Just was in "I can't believe she really did it" mode.
Names are very personal, and while we all have a right to name our kids what we want to, I sometimes really want to shake some parents and ask them where their common sense has gone. I feel like I can talk about this, having a name that is not common, and having to have dealt with unending questions about "how do you spell that?", "how did they come up with that name?", not to mention getting made fun of. Not only was my first name a different type of name, my last name really didn't do much to rectify the situation. I was voting for a king/queen thing in high school. And at the table where they were marking off that you were voting, a teacher I had never had, told me that if I ever became famous that I wouldn't have to change my name. I think he meant it as a compliment, but I didn't really appreciate it. I have never enjoyed having a "different" name. When all the other kids had things with their name on them, you would never find my name. And the "nicknames" that other kids would call me, when they were really making fun of me. When I got into high school, it was a bit easier because we were a highly diverse school. So the kids from India and Pakistan all had weirder names than I did. One poor guy had the first name of Vipol. Imagine what teenage boys did with that one.
I feel very bad for the people that were born in a different country, and then come here, where their name just sounds horrible. For example, poor Nastia Luikin. I wondered why her parents would name her that, but then found out she was born in Russia. And there were several other kids at my high school that had very cultural names, but many of them had parents that came from a different country, or the child was born there. And I can kind of understand that. What I don't understand is perfectly normal, American parents naming their kids these crazy things. And usually the parents have pretty average common names. Which means they have no idea what it's like to have a "different" type of name. When I think of names for my kids, I think of all the possible ways other kids could make fun of it, of possible nicknames, and of them being able to choose what they are called. My parents have average names, and boy did they choose doozies for me and my sister. The rest of our family has somewhat normal names. And what about those that name their kids normal names, but spell it some crazy way. Like Kamryn. Or Sydni. I mean, seriously. Why torture your kids?
Growing up, I knew some large families that had some strange patterns for naming their kids. One had more than six kids and every one of the kids had the initials J.E.T. Another family had nine kids and all the names started with K. Some people we met in Germany did it alphabetically. Starting with A. And they were all girls with more of the unisex most mostly male names. And you know, there really isn't anything wrong with any of that. I just don't understand why you would want all the pressure to find those names that fit within that very small catagory. I have a friend who has a different kind of theme, one that people won't instantly see. She has a double letter in her name and so does her husband. So do both of their kids. They are currently looking for another one for their next kid. But they don't name their kids crazy and weird things or add another letter to the name to make it fit and screw up the real spelling of the name.
I try REALLY hard to be respectful and not tell people what I really think of their name choices for their kids. But I don't believe in pretending that I LOVE it, and oh, what a beautiful name. I just keep my mouth shut and say nothing. But inside I'm cringing at the future of that kid as they get made fun of. I guess my thought process is, kids find so many things to make fun of each other with, why give them one more by giving them some crazy name???
I feel really bad for the people that have horrible last names. My brother knew a guy with the last name of Philapeanus. How horrible would that be. I can't think of any others right now, but there are plenty of them.
Whats my point? Who knows. I just know how I feel about my "different" name, and what lies in store for these kids that show up to school with the name of Cherry. Or a boy with the name of Shannon. Or a girl with the name of Micheal. Or when celebrities name their kids something like this. I just don't get it.
A few months ago, I wrote this post.
I forgot to mention in this post that many years before, I had discussed that name with my friend and she said she liked it, and I said I didn't. And we had discussed it a few other times. So, I wasn't expecting them to change it. Just was in "I can't believe she really did it" mode.
Names are very personal, and while we all have a right to name our kids what we want to, I sometimes really want to shake some parents and ask them where their common sense has gone. I feel like I can talk about this, having a name that is not common, and having to have dealt with unending questions about "how do you spell that?", "how did they come up with that name?", not to mention getting made fun of. Not only was my first name a different type of name, my last name really didn't do much to rectify the situation. I was voting for a king/queen thing in high school. And at the table where they were marking off that you were voting, a teacher I had never had, told me that if I ever became famous that I wouldn't have to change my name. I think he meant it as a compliment, but I didn't really appreciate it. I have never enjoyed having a "different" name. When all the other kids had things with their name on them, you would never find my name. And the "nicknames" that other kids would call me, when they were really making fun of me. When I got into high school, it was a bit easier because we were a highly diverse school. So the kids from India and Pakistan all had weirder names than I did. One poor guy had the first name of Vipol. Imagine what teenage boys did with that one.
I feel very bad for the people that were born in a different country, and then come here, where their name just sounds horrible. For example, poor Nastia Luikin. I wondered why her parents would name her that, but then found out she was born in Russia. And there were several other kids at my high school that had very cultural names, but many of them had parents that came from a different country, or the child was born there. And I can kind of understand that. What I don't understand is perfectly normal, American parents naming their kids these crazy things. And usually the parents have pretty average common names. Which means they have no idea what it's like to have a "different" type of name. When I think of names for my kids, I think of all the possible ways other kids could make fun of it, of possible nicknames, and of them being able to choose what they are called. My parents have average names, and boy did they choose doozies for me and my sister. The rest of our family has somewhat normal names. And what about those that name their kids normal names, but spell it some crazy way. Like Kamryn. Or Sydni. I mean, seriously. Why torture your kids?
Growing up, I knew some large families that had some strange patterns for naming their kids. One had more than six kids and every one of the kids had the initials J.E.T. Another family had nine kids and all the names started with K. Some people we met in Germany did it alphabetically. Starting with A. And they were all girls with more of the unisex most mostly male names. And you know, there really isn't anything wrong with any of that. I just don't understand why you would want all the pressure to find those names that fit within that very small catagory. I have a friend who has a different kind of theme, one that people won't instantly see. She has a double letter in her name and so does her husband. So do both of their kids. They are currently looking for another one for their next kid. But they don't name their kids crazy and weird things or add another letter to the name to make it fit and screw up the real spelling of the name.
I try REALLY hard to be respectful and not tell people what I really think of their name choices for their kids. But I don't believe in pretending that I LOVE it, and oh, what a beautiful name. I just keep my mouth shut and say nothing. But inside I'm cringing at the future of that kid as they get made fun of. I guess my thought process is, kids find so many things to make fun of each other with, why give them one more by giving them some crazy name???
I feel really bad for the people that have horrible last names. My brother knew a guy with the last name of Philapeanus. How horrible would that be. I can't think of any others right now, but there are plenty of them.
Whats my point? Who knows. I just know how I feel about my "different" name, and what lies in store for these kids that show up to school with the name of Cherry. Or a boy with the name of Shannon. Or a girl with the name of Micheal. Or when celebrities name their kids something like this. I just don't get it.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Ugh
I am SO TIRED of this day. We woke up to a huge thunderstorm that later turned into a tornado watch. Then we have a tornado warning until 5pm today. Which I cannot wait until it expires. I've been watching our local weather channel all day. Our entire state is dealing with the leftovers from Hurricane Faye. There have been tornado watches all over the state today. If I had somewhere to go that was out of all this weather I would have been long gone. I have barely been able to do anything today too. Luckily Matt came home around lunch time and made lunch for us. It doesn't help that both the kids are just tired. And so am I. Yet another reason why I really hope we move away from here come December. I really miss living in Southern California, where rain was rare. Where I rarely owned a winter coat. Where tornado's were things that we read about in books at school or that we heard about on TV. I may be willing to move back there, even if I have my crazy in laws and my crazy mom close by. I don't know. Maybe once we're out of the military we'll move to Arizona. I have no idea. OK, 40 more minutes until this warning expires. Yeah, I'm a big basket of nerves. I'm going to try and get myself together to sweep my floor, clean up the kitchen a bit more, and get dinner started. Wish me luck.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Orientation
Today was Andrew Kindergarten Orientation. And our first day of starting to get up early. I think it would have gone a bit better had Matt's self cleaning razor not been so stinkin loud that it woke me up WAY too early. And that I had a hard time getting back to sleep so that I could get up and get going. Hopefully tomorrow Matt will close the bathroom door. And I will get to sleep and not be woken up.
His Orientation wasn't bad. Although his teacher pronounces her name wrong. Her name is DuBois as in doo-bwa. But she says doo-boyz. Seriously. Andrew will be pronouncing it correctly even if no one else does. Just because we're in the south doesn't mean people can't pronounce things right. We pronounce things correctly in our home regardless of the language.
Our car is still not back. A friend from church is letting us borrow her van for the day. Her husband recently left for Korea, so they have a car just sitting around.
I apologize for the lame posts recently. My brain isn't functioning as well as it should. Perhaps once Andrew is in school and I can think a bit clearer, I will be back to my regular posting self.
His Orientation wasn't bad. Although his teacher pronounces her name wrong. Her name is DuBois as in doo-bwa. But she says doo-boyz. Seriously. Andrew will be pronouncing it correctly even if no one else does. Just because we're in the south doesn't mean people can't pronounce things right. We pronounce things correctly in our home regardless of the language.
Our car is still not back. A friend from church is letting us borrow her van for the day. Her husband recently left for Korea, so they have a car just sitting around.
I apologize for the lame posts recently. My brain isn't functioning as well as it should. Perhaps once Andrew is in school and I can think a bit clearer, I will be back to my regular posting self.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Today is the day!
Matt is on his way home! Hooray! The kids are excited, and so am I. I'm also hoping for a nap. Maybe not today as he is driving for a while before he gets here. But possibly tomorrow. We also have to get the car taken care of. Sigh. Really hoping that it is easily fixed and won't cost us a quarter of what we make every month. I am picking up the clutter that has accumulated before we left, and since we got back. It isn't that bad. And rather than have the kids help me (bad mom) they are watching a movie in their room. It leaves me to do what I need to do without getting angry and anyone. Sometimes it is better for me to do it this way. But once I get to their bedroom it will be a different story. They will be helping me. Hope your day will be as good as mine!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
What a week
This past week we headed back up to the DC area to see my brother. I haven't seen him in over a year (missed his wedding too because we were moving). Stayed at my friends house again (thanks Anne!) and then met he and his friend in the District. That day was pretty good. Marshall had never been there before. This is us in the Wright Brothers exhibit in the Air and Space Museum. The entire time we were gone, I don't think Andrew took more than one normal smiling picture.
Since I was up there, I called my old companion Dana and asked if we could come by and see her. I haven't seen her since I got married seven years ago! She has 3 kids (Sefa is the one that snuck into our picture) and has one on the way. It was really good to see her. Please remind me to take off my sunglasses for pictures. Sheesh. I look so retarded.
A HUGE bonus from driving up to Maryland was the fact I got to go to Baja Fresh!!! I happen to LOVE LOVE LOVE fish tacos. Most people look at me like I'm crazy when I talk about them. But they are the best kind of tacos out there. Seriously. My favorite ones are far away in San Antonio, but Baja Fresh has some that aren't too bad. Plus the pico de gallo was so yummy. I had two tacos and I almost went back to order another one. So freaking good!!
After we left Baja Fresh I got gas. Got back in the car. I heard this very strange sound that I thought the kids made. They of course said they didn't do it. At the time I thought, yeah right. As I was driving down the street my window went down all by itself. That totally freaked me out and I pulled into a parking lot super fast. Turned off the car. Turned it back on. Window WOULD NOT COME UP. I will remind you that I was in Maryland. And that I had to drive all the way back to North Carolina. To ease my panicky self we stopped by the Washington DC temple.
Andrew was angry because talking about Jesus is boring. (his words) We went into the Visitors Center and talked to the Sister Missionaries inside. Andrew wouldn't come with us, so he sat in a chair near the front door while an older gentleman missionary tried to talk to him. As you can tell, that didn't brighten his mood very much. I took this picture as we were leaving and yet again, Andrew has his mouth open making a face.
And if you're wondering, yes I did drive 8 hours from Maryland to North Carolina with my window down. Andrew asked me to please try one more time to get the window back up. Just try mom. There was no more trying to be done. It would not come back up. All of us (especially me) were blown like crazy for eight straight hours. They tried to watch a movie, but between the wind and having to turn it up pretty loud to even hear it, that didn't happen much. Listening to music wasn't very helpful either. I was so excited to reach home. It almost rained on us too. Well, it would have only rained on me. I thought we would NEVER GET HOME!!!
Today I've been doing laundry, cleaning up the house, and being very thankful that my kids are playing incredibly well together. So far. These were just highlights of our trip. I will share more when I can sit down and type again. Matt will be home tomorrow (hooray!!) and we'll figure out how to get that window fixed. And after my drive yesterday I want nothing to do with my car for a while. So, don't count on my visiting anyone that isn't within walking distance. Not until my window is fixed.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Reconciling
When I joined the blogging world, I didn't realize what I was in for. All these decorating blogs, blogs that post pretty things, and opening my mind to new ideas. Who knew?? I have had my mind opened up to two very different things, which I've been trying to reconcile for a while.
The first one is being more earth friendly. And I've really been doing that. I have been buying at our local Farmers Market as much as I can. I've been recycling like crazy. I use my reusable grocery bags about 95% of the time I go to the commissary. I buy earth friendly cleaning and personal products. I try to turn off the lights as much as I can. I try to walk as many places as I can. And I've been on the same tank of gas for almost 3 weeks. I've even been using biodegradable flushable wipes for Lucy. We also shop on ebay for almost everything we can rather than buying new. I feel like I'm doing really well with this. I could always do more, like grow my own vegetables, have a compost, and never go to Walmart ever again. We'll see where we move next and see how well I can do those last few things.
The other one is beautiful things. I know that sounds ambiguous, but thats the best way I can describe it. Beautiful pictures for your walls. Beautiful clothes. Beautiful furniture. Beautiful kids toys. Beautiful organizing stuff. Beautiful stationary and cards. Just beautiful everything. I never even knew some of this stuff existed. And I find that I LOVE it. The problem is I do not have a financial situation that will allow me to indulge in those sorts of things. At least not the way I would like to. Some of it is earth friendly. Some of it does support small businesses and moms that are working from home to stay with their kids. But most of it doesn't. And as much as it is eye candy for me and every one else that sees it, most of us just can't afford it. Occasionally I can, when I find something really great on Etsy or Ebay, or when I find something awesome at TJ MAXX or Marshalls or (my favorite) Ross. Sometimes even at Hobby Lobby. So I am thinking about weaning myself off of those types of blogs. Maybe trying to find more do-it-yourself type of blogs where I can learn how to do what I want for less money. Another thing that bothers me about these blogs is that there is a lot of commercialism. And while many of them are done by sahms, I just get so tired of all of the commercialism.
So, do you see my problem?? I'm working on it, trying to find a way to make my home, what we wear, and the things we use beautiful and good for the earth. Not always easy. But I'm trying. And I'm sure it will be a bit easier once Matt is an officer (can't wait for January!!) and I'll have a bit more to work with. And maybe be able to live in a place where I can compost!!!
What do you guys do to reconcile these things? Is it hard? What makes it easier for you?
The first one is being more earth friendly. And I've really been doing that. I have been buying at our local Farmers Market as much as I can. I've been recycling like crazy. I use my reusable grocery bags about 95% of the time I go to the commissary. I buy earth friendly cleaning and personal products. I try to turn off the lights as much as I can. I try to walk as many places as I can. And I've been on the same tank of gas for almost 3 weeks. I've even been using biodegradable flushable wipes for Lucy. We also shop on ebay for almost everything we can rather than buying new. I feel like I'm doing really well with this. I could always do more, like grow my own vegetables, have a compost, and never go to Walmart ever again. We'll see where we move next and see how well I can do those last few things.
The other one is beautiful things. I know that sounds ambiguous, but thats the best way I can describe it. Beautiful pictures for your walls. Beautiful clothes. Beautiful furniture. Beautiful kids toys. Beautiful organizing stuff. Beautiful stationary and cards. Just beautiful everything. I never even knew some of this stuff existed. And I find that I LOVE it. The problem is I do not have a financial situation that will allow me to indulge in those sorts of things. At least not the way I would like to. Some of it is earth friendly. Some of it does support small businesses and moms that are working from home to stay with their kids. But most of it doesn't. And as much as it is eye candy for me and every one else that sees it, most of us just can't afford it. Occasionally I can, when I find something really great on Etsy or Ebay, or when I find something awesome at TJ MAXX or Marshalls or (my favorite) Ross. Sometimes even at Hobby Lobby. So I am thinking about weaning myself off of those types of blogs. Maybe trying to find more do-it-yourself type of blogs where I can learn how to do what I want for less money. Another thing that bothers me about these blogs is that there is a lot of commercialism. And while many of them are done by sahms, I just get so tired of all of the commercialism.
So, do you see my problem?? I'm working on it, trying to find a way to make my home, what we wear, and the things we use beautiful and good for the earth. Not always easy. But I'm trying. And I'm sure it will be a bit easier once Matt is an officer (can't wait for January!!) and I'll have a bit more to work with. And maybe be able to live in a place where I can compost!!!
What do you guys do to reconcile these things? Is it hard? What makes it easier for you?
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