“String to short to use”

10) My mom and her sister (my auntie) came for a visit a couple weeks ago. We had great fun. It had actually been over a month since I’d seen Mom so we had lots to talk about. We didn’t do anything spectacular, but had good food and plenty of time to catch up. The first night they were here, Liam made us all get up and dance after dinner. There was no music, but he was dancing in the dining room and insisted we all dance too. We got our evening calisthenics out of the way.

9) I am struggling with spiritual issues. Faith is one of those “just when you think you have it figured out” kinds of things. I’m beginning to think it might be time to drop back five yards and punt. Of course, faith is also one of the hardest things to discuss and be open about.

8) “Mine” is the most common word in Liam’s vocabulary. I’m not sure how to convince him that everything in the world does not belong to him. Thank God he has to interact with other kids at day care two days a week. I’m hoping that will help him learn to relate to and share with children his own age. It is hard to know what’s the right thing to do.

7) I cut off all my hair earlier this month. Well, actually, I didn’t do it. I paid someone who knows what they are doing to do it. I think it looks pretty good. My hair was so damaged by color and a bad perm I couldn’t even get a comb through it. TerryAnn managed to get rid of a lot of the damage and used a demi-shade to return me to my natural color. For those of you keeping score, my natural color is a kind of golden brown. I am trying to like it.

6) How do I know if a Bible study I am leading is going well? The discussion seem lively enough and the book we are using is interesting. Everyone seems to be enjoying it, but am I really doing a decent job of this?

5) I am trying really hard to keep all my posts from being about Liam. It is hard because he is such a big part of my world these days. I do do other things, just not many and apparently they are not very noteworthy. I guess that is just the life of a mom of a two-year old. Sometimes that gets to me, but he is so very cute and we do have a lot of fun. So, if you end up reading an awful lot about the life and times of Liam, so be it. I guess you can just stop reading whenever you want.

4) Thursdays have notoriously been the worst day of my week. Something happened this summer to change all that. My friend, Nancy, had this idea that a bunch of us should get together and work on our PIGS or UFOs or whatever you want to call them. It certainly has brightened my Thursdays.

3) I can’t believe how easy it is to let the television become a babysitter. Liam loves to watch movies and football. He is learning from Chris and I to turn on the TV and leave it on as background noise, something we do with alarming regularity. We need to stop our bad television habits before they become Liam’s bad television habits. I guess I didn’t realize how often we did this until Liam came along and by example pointed it out to us. Yike!

2) Overnight it seems our trees and bushes changed from green to gold and red. The backyard has become a golden canopy and the bushes in front truly do look as though they are on fire. I guess they don’t call them “burning bushes” for nothing. At any rate, my favorite time of year is here. I wish I had more time to enjoy it, but life and duty calls.

1) Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. I’m considering changing my name. I don’t mind it when he has something on his mind, but it can really get on my nerves when it becomes a non-stop refrain.

I choose to choose

Normally you will not read about politics here. I don’t like politics. I have a husband who teaches social studies and is a complete news addict. Politics makes me hurl. That said, one of my facebook friends, a guy I went to high school with, posted a comment today that made me see red, no pun intended.

There is, as I see it, a fundamental flaw in Republican rhetoric. It is one I noticed a long time ago, but never bothered to point it out to anyone. I’ll probably regret this, but here goes:

“-- individual liberty! personal responsibility! a small government! low taxes! not much bureaucracy! entrepreneurial spirit!”

How can Republicans be for individual liberty, but against a woman’s right to choose what to do with her own body?

Is it because we’re women?

Is individual liberty for men only?

Why is it that a three-day background check for the purchase of a gun is protested as an intolerable "inconvenience,” but a woman who chooses not to carry a pregnancy to term is condemned for acting out of "personal convenience." Huh?

So its like this: Don’t tell me what to do in the privacy of my own home, but please tell my wife/girlfriend/sister/daughter what to do in the privacy of her own body.

Why?

Because she’s too stupid to know what she wants?

Because she can’t be trusted to make the right decision for her own life?

Because as a woman she has no rights?

Because as a woman she is considered chattel?

Do Republicans really not see the oxy-moron inherent in this stance? Do they really not see that this is contradictory at best and sexual discrimination at worst?

As a final comment . . . argh! This is me tearing my hair out.

10 Awesome Things

For all my friends at Choose Awesome and anyone else who might be interested.

10) Doing one thing each day that scares me. Although being a Mom scares me to death, I do still try most days to do an additional thing that scares me just to make sure I keep on my toes.

9) Autumn. Fall. A rose by any other name . . . I absolutely LOVE this time of year.

8) Liam. My treasured son. He is awesome every single day and I get to be his mommy which has to be the most awesome responsibility ever.

7) My church community and the outlet they have given me to exercise my spiritual gifts.

6) Nancy, Jill & I started a little sewing circle. We meet every Thursday at 10 a.m. There is room for more. Care to join us?

5) The amazing body God has given each of us. Although mine looks more like a warehouse than a temple, I am determined to take steps to change that.

4) My mom: “more powerful than a locomotive.”

3) Fresh peaches. They have been exceptional this year.

2) The CD player in my car spontaneously starting working again. It took a six month hiatus, but I have tunes again and I am soooo happy!

1) Christmas music. It’s the best and I will listen to it year ‘round just as soon as my husband goes deaf.

There will be peace

I am alone.

Don’t feel sorry for me. This is in a good way. Solitude is rejuvenation for the soul. Loneliness is something else entirely. This weekend I intend to enjoy my aloneness. It doesn’t happen very often these days, so I will revel.

I will mop the kitchen/nook floor. At our house, with a two-year old under foot, it doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should. Now I know most of you are thinking: “Well, why can’t she just mop the floor while the kid is napping?” Technically I could, but mopping is therapy and not something to be rushed or taken lightly. Several years ago we replaced our ugly vinyl flooring with beautiful stone tiles. A thorough mopping is all they need to look spectacular. Thus I will be Zen mopping at some point this weekend.

I will bathe Mufasa, my dog, and give him a haircut. This is another task that is difficult to do with Mr Inquisitive living at my house. Mufasa was my first “baby.” He and I will spend some quality time this weekend.

I will layout the blocks of my current quilting project on the floor in the family room and decide what order they should be in. Again, one of those tasks made absolutely impossible with an extremely energetic rug rat in the house.

I will blog. I have been sadly neglecting my blog for the past several months. I am hoping to give some much needed attention to both it and my journal.

I will linger in the shower because I don’t have to worry about Liam waking up in the middle of my ablutions and opening the curtain saying: “Mom. Mom. Mom.”

I will eat strange foods that I cannot get my husband to eat.

I will stay up too late and get up too early.

I will watch chick flicks.

I will revel.

It will be a quiet, introspective weekend which will end on Sunday at 5 p.m. when Chris and Liam get home from Grandma’s. I can’t wait to see them . . . I miss them both.

Being a mom is full of surprises

Last night when I was heading to bed, I made my usual trip down the hall to check on Liam. The door to his room wouldn’t open and it took me just a second to realize why. He was sound asleep on the floor right behind the door. I was tempted to just leave him there, but he had no covers and would have gotten very cold long before morning.

What to do?

I eased the door open just as far as it would go, knelt down and reached through the crack (it was just wide enough). I was able to gently roll him over which then gave me just enough room to slip through the door myself. I gathered him up, along with all the critters he sleeps with, and laid him back in his bed. He never even stirred. Whew!

Generally, after Liam goes to bed each night the adventure for the day has ended . . . but not always.

"String too short to use"

10) Liam went to the pediatrician today. Well baby.

9) I am starting to get my thoughts together about this trip we are leaving on in a week. We will be gone for three weeks! Yike! In my world this takes much planning, list making and thought. In CJE’s world he can walk out the door with his toothbrush in hand and be fine. Grr! I guess that’s why he married me . . . I always wondered.

8) I have not blogged in over a month. So sue me. Life was nuts and Liam was cutting eye teeth. Trust me when I tell you, eye teeth are the worst. Even the molars were easier.

7) I read the most amazing book. Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. Incredible. It goes on the list of books I would want with me on a deserted island.

6) Quilt camp. Extraordinary. Quiet, peaceful retreat with like-minded, crafty people. Heaven on earth.

5) Because, as I mentioned in #9, we are leaving in about a week, I am now trying to figure out how to cram a month’s worth of work into the first 10 days of June. Somehow I don’t think it’s going to work.

4) I am feeling the need to write again. Here and in my journal. I kept a journal from 1995-2007. In 2007 my life turned upside down and it hasn’t righted itself yet, but I have decided that’s no excuse. I so should be journaling anyhow. Fifty lashes with a wet noodle and here I go. No catching up, just start from where I am.

3) I found some of the best stuff on earth. Celestial Seasonings Imperial White Peach White Tea. Yummy. Because we live in the back of beyond, it is difficult to find around here. I ended up ordering it from www.amazon.com so then had to order a case, but it is scrumptious hot with a touch of honey and makes very delicious iced tea as well. You should try it.

2) Liam is two.



1) Time to read. Liam is napping, my work is done for today.

Affirmation is good for the soul

As a parent, I often wonder if I’m doing anything right. It is so very difficult to know. It is not like children come with instruction booklets and even if they did, each one is different so it mostly likely wouldn’t help anyway.

Today, however, I got affirmation that my hard work is paying off.

A friend watched Liam yesterday morning while CJE took me to a doctor’s appointment. She told us when we got back how much fun she and Liam had had and what a good boy he was and that she would be happy to watch him again anytime.

That made me feel good, but this morning she went one better. She called me and left a message on my voice mail. This is what she said: “I was just calling to thank you again for letting me come over and babysit your son yesterday. I had the best time and I just wanted to tell you that I think you have the most special child.”

Wow! I think he’s special, but my judgement is likely to be somewhat clouded on the subject. After all I’m not exactly an uninterested observer. Hearing he is special and sweet from someone else is a huge affirmation of what I am trying to do here.

There is no doubt this is the hardest thing I’ll ever do. They say that in order to grow and learn, you should do something everyday that scares you. Well, I got that covered; it scares me every day to get up and be a mom.

I want Liam to be healthy and smart and compassionate. I want him to be strong and wise and loving. I want him to love God and his fellow man. I want him to have good values and sound judgement. How do you teach these things? How do you instill them in your child?

Every day I take my best guess and hope something comes out right. Apparently it’s working cause he is a cute little boy who is strong and smart and sweet and fun. So, for today, I can breathe easy. Tomorrow is another day.