Creating Common Sense

This week my hero at my office retired. Which was rather unexpected as the lucky lady is years shy of 50 and doing it by choice. I'm still pretty shocked because I'd always imagined I'd get to work with her as a direct report again later on down the line, but how can you not be excited when someone gets to happily retire early?

I want to be just like her when I grow up.

At my job, everything is happening at once or as we like to call it annual planning. And as everyone else in the world already knows, just because one part of your life gets busy, the rest of your responsibilities don't sit peacefully and wait for you to have some free time. And since life always like to give me a bit more that I can comfortably chew and still stay on the sane side of a mental breakdown . . . the morning after the weepy/happy retirement party was Alaina's first day of school.

So as my mom did to me, Alaina was dressed in one of her favorite outfits, her hair was styled in a fancy style that I regretted starting about halfway through it, and she carried her pretty new back pack with her name written on the front.


And don't be thinking that I made this hair style up. Oh no! I bought a BOOK on how to do my little girls hair a few months ago because I was tired of being shown up by the teachers at Alaina's daycare. For some reason they loved styling her hair and she kept asking me to duplicate them the next morning.

School was a blast for Alaina no tears were shed by her, myself, or her dad, and a new stage of life is beginning. And I am SOOOO excited for her!

But as my house quieted down this evening and I was mopping the bathroom floor I began to ponder the great journey of parenting and the events to come. Actually I've started doing that a lot lately. But the things that I wonder about the most are the instructions of common sense. I'm sure I could find a book about teaching your children common sense, in fact I know they wrote two for college kids about what your mom/dad should have taught you, but even those are a little beyond what I'm concerned about.

Where is the list of things that you should make sure to teach your child before inflicting them on society? And I want to know when I should teach them those things. And should I keep a list of items that they aren't old enough to be taught yet so that I don't forget to teach it to them later?

This actually came about because I was thinking about learning how to mop the floor.

It seems simple right? Bucket + Soapy water / rag x scrubbing = clean floor.

But have you ever seen someone mop a floor that hasn't learned by trial and error? Let me tell you, it's pretty apparent when someone doesn't wring out the mop rag, used water that needed to be changed or didn't scrub the tile enough. But can you blame someone if they haven't moped enough floors to know better? And how do you go about correcting a behavior like that?

I'm about to tattle, but my husband isn't a pro at steam cleaning carpets. Oh sure, he's done it a few times. But the last time he did it the carpets were in a pretty sad state, and since they are unfortunately white, from the last owners mind you, he went over them three times.

Now when I steam the carpets, I use HOT water, minimal soap, and make sure to run over the carpet an extra time with the fresh water tank empty to suck out as much water as possible so the drying time after I clean is 12 hours or less.

After Jeff steamed the carpets? Drying time was 3 days in some spots. Unfortunately I was in the position of critiquing something that could be considered common sense. So I tried starting with the obvious and commented on the drying time.
Jeff was quick to point out that he, unlike me I guess, went over the carpet 3 times.
So I commented that the carpet was bubbling up in some spot. Which he has no defense for, other than how could you possibly tie it back to the cleaning? After all, it never did that when I clean the carpet.

So I waited.

Waited until the time was just right. AKA, the next time Jeff was steam cleaning to catch him in the act. It took a while, but I finally managed to catch him in the act. Apparently, Jeff wasn't familiar with the set up of the steam vac and how the trigger switch dispenses the water and you should release it to suck up the dirty water. I (not very subtlely) pointed that out to him and got an, "UH!" for me efforts. But the look on his face was enough to make that UH mean.

AND HOW THE HECK WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WHEN THIS THING DIDN'T HAVE AN INSTRUCTION BOOK!

And so these are the kinds of things that I wonder about teaching my kids. Gone are the days when your education can be measured by your knowledge of multiplication tables, state capitals, and president. Now you are expected to understand how to program all the electronic devices in your house with just your phone, stay up to date on the statuses of friends on facebook and twitter, and know all the local gossip before you've even talked to a person face to face in the morning.

How is a parent to keep up with common sense? Will my girls be mocked if I teach them how to cook, clean, and sew before they go to college? Do they get bragging rights if they are the only girls in their dorms who know how? Or will they just be weird?

And let me ask . . .did anyone teach you how to mop? steam clean a carpet? sew? What about ironing a dress shirt? Folding a fitted sheet? Pick out fresh produce?

I suppose rather than having to admit you don't know how to do a common sense task, you can just watch a video on YouTube these days.

But I bet I can still recall most of the state capitals faster than you can google them on your smart phone.

10 days down, 21 to go . . .

I have declared the month of March a hazard zone. I now have a cold and the cat has been in the posession of the vet for over 24 hours. Everytime I call they just want to look at 'one more thing' and then they will call me with an update.

At this point I'm way past no news is good news and am just waiting for the call that I'm going to be a single cat home again.

Bleh.

If the March 'In like a lion, out like a lamb' is true for personal lives, I'm going to win the lottery by the end of the month!

Say What?

I went to the hearing specialist Monday and had my hearing tested. It turns out that I have a significant hearing deficiency in the middle frequencies. The specialist explained that this type of hearing loss isn't because of damage, but is usually hereditary and present from birth. So my questions is . . .

How long have I been yelling at people when I talk????

Seriously, I'm all of 28 years old, need a hearing aide, and the specialists said I've probably had this since birth, but that it must have recently gotten worse, hence the visit how instead of before. Tuesday (yesterday) they provided me with some trial case hearing aides and I can't believe the difference! Its not like I couldn't hear at all, but what I can hear with them is soooo much better!

I'm saddened by the thought that I should have sucked it up and went to a specialist earlier that this, because my boss and my husband both notice a difference in the volume of my regular speaking voice.

Now the FUN part of hearing aides . . .

Any one want to guess how much they cost? I told Jeff they were 'Hella Expensive' and he guessed $500. I told him he wasn't taking the 'Hella' into account. These bad boys are $3000 a piece. And insurance only covers 10%. If I sign up for my own hearing insurance through my office, they will pay $500 each for the 1st year, $750 the second year, or $1000 each if I stay on the insurance for three years.

So I have a 3 year plan to improve my hearing . . .but until then, you'll just have to deal with me speaking a little louder and asking you to repeat yourself every now and again. But at least I know there is an end in sight.

In the meantime, I may cry a little when I turn these bad boys in. I feel like a secret service agent.

p.s. for all the tech lovers out there, I can buy a wireless remote for these and connect them to my cell phone or MP3 player and route the sound directly into them . . .no earbuds or blue tooth required!

p.s.s Welcome to the blogging community Mimi!!!

Cold-heart versus Rock

I feel the need to just articulate/pontificate/ expound for a while . . .

Here's a little history:

Jeff's maternal grandmother raised five daughters all by herself, loosing her husband to a car accident while she was pregnant with the fifth. My MIL is the oldest and Jeff's aunt R is the youngest.

Jeff's grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's for about 4 years or so. Its amazing to see how medicine may not have cured it yet, but it gave her a higher quality of living by improving her social interaction.
Translation: She may not have known my name, but she always liked to sit and talk to me for a while. My favorite moment being earlier this year when Kayla was 2 weeks old and she asked me when I was due. I just laughed and pointed out my new baby across the room and she laughed along with me.

But it appears that cancer has entered the picture and the family feels that it won't be long before she moves on. Everyone is taking it really hard, especially my MIL and Aunt R, who assumed responsibility of their mother, moved in with her and has taken care of herself ever since she couldn't do it herself.

I have no idea how to react. I am at peace with her passing, and Jeff seems to be as well. So when everyone get misty and choked up, I feel like a cold hearted woman patting their hand. I asked if there was anything we could do and the answer was "pray."

I immediately asked, "For what?"

I thought that sounded mean as soon as I said it, but I guess I was asking what stage of grief they were at. If they wanted me to pray for her to get better, things were going to get really ugly in the next few weeks.

But since they asked for me to pray for her comfort, I think the family is going to stay strong and count their blessings in the short time they have left.

I worry that I might seem too insensitive, but sometimes I feel like I've been down the road of grief more that other's my age, so I'm a little bit more staid in my grief. We haven't had a lot of deaths in the family, but being such a close family, losing my grandfathers in slow battles and one uncle in the blink of an eye has helped me adopt a calmer facet during the grieving process.

I don't know, I guess maybe I never was a big crying in my grief. I'm hard pressed to remember being distraught with grief at a funeral, I can remember crying for sure, but never loud sobs. Mom, any input into my ponderings?

Anyway, thanks for listening as I rambled my way around.

I'll take common knowledge for $300 Alex.

What happened to common knowledge? Does it still exist? I know what everyone thinks they know - politics, Hollywood, technology. But what about what we used to know?

Think of all those test you took in school on psychology, geometry, and social studies. Sometimes little things that I remember surprise me. Homeostasis, the Pythagorean theorem, how to calculate the weight of the protons of an element, yadda, yadda, yadda.

But then I can't believe the things I've forgotten. One of which hit me last night . . . .

I can't remember the capitals of all the states anymore. I was sooooo unbelievable proud to know them all when I was in high school, but somewhere between now and then I've forgotten quite a few. Granted I still know all the states, but when I tried to mentally add their capitals, I blanked on more than one or two.

This isn't really a big deal, except when I add in the fact that I can still remember the lyrics to all of the Disney movies I watched growing up and all of the New Kids on the Block songs, A.K.A. useless knowledge.

When did our society's priorities shift in such a different direction for what is important to remember? Why is it not important to know what country your family originated from, and the roots of our nation?

I can't even list the first 10 presidents anymore, let alone tell you when the last 5 were in office.

But I can play six degrees to Kevin Bacon and hold my own!

I would say I can play six degrees with the best of them, but I've tried that and failed miserably. They were two guys from college and they pulled out names like directors who appear in one movie as a walk on role.

P.S. Here's a small Wordless Wednesday pic for you Mel.

I tried . . .really I did!

I tried to blog while on maternity leave, but looking back my efforts weren't so good.

I'm back at work and Kayla is at her first day of daycare . . .I'm going to have to go visit at noon because I have to drop off another bottle . . .

Which makes me very unhappy. I tried so dang hard to pump when I could to build up my milk supply so that I wouldn't have to 'bus' milk around town.

And then MSPI struck.

I have approx 10 oz of milk in the freezer waiting for Kayla's digestion to acclimate to soy and milk again. 10 oz just waiting to be used.

But not for another two months.

Kayla also has the worst case of baby 'back-ne' that I've ever seen too. It was so bad I took her to the pediatrician to see if it was a rash.

But to close, here are a few things I learned while on Maternity leave.

1) There is always at leave on version of CSI, Law and Order or The West Wing playing all day on TV.

2) I should not be allowed to watch any of the above shows for more that 2 days of leave because I start telling myself that I should study law, forensic science, or politics just so I can pontificate like my favorite characters.

3) I hate hemming things by hand.

4) Ironing curtains sucks.

5) Having to read the ingredients of everything you eat sucks big time

6) The public library is a blessing and a curse

7) I do not trust anyone with a Y chromosome with the exclusive care of a baby under 6 weeks for more than 30 minutes. And the women that I trust with one for more than 2 hours is very short indeed.

8) Movies are getting too long if I can't figure out how to go see one in between nursing sessions for Kayla.

9) Those stupid mittens they make for babies are useless. A good pair of their socks over their hands works much better.

10) those stupid mittens are not for keeping baby from scratching their face, but are to keep babies from trying to nurse from their hands and howling in frustration when trying to sleep.

11) I'd rather have to break my child of using a pacifier, than have a child who refuses to suck on one for comfort.

I could go on, but I have to go home to scrounge for food, go to daycare, and maybe sneak in an eposide of The West Wing over lunch.

Recovery time

Its time for shots!

Nope not the nasty needle kind, but the fun colored ones! When Alaina was vomiting, I couldn't get her to drink gatorade, so I devised this system.

Every 15 minutes, she got to pick another 'color' to drink.

It worked okay, but she doesn't really like to drink anything but milk or water so this was a bit of a chore.

She really liked to 'nurse' her drink rather than drink it down. I'm betting she'll master the guzzle well before her 21st b-day at this rate.

Alaina was feeling pretty perky on Sunday, so we headed up to Omaha to visit the Denver Danglers. Here's Mimi horsing around with her grand daughters. Or should I say Alaina was the horse. And because she was feeling better, Alaina got to open her b-day present the DenDangs brought for her. It was a wonderful 'green' tea set. Alaina hasn't stopped serving Jeff and I yet.

Mommy do you want some tea?

Coffee?

Chocolate milk?

Pink?

Check out the fake cookies. She made me wait to take the picture until she had all the cookies arranged so that they were facing the camera at the same angle.

OCD girl strikes again!

Alaina is convinced that her sister will be here on Saturday to have cake with her for her birthday. I get a little misty when she talks about it. I hope this fascination with having a sister lasts for a while.

And after an intense debate last night, the baby still remains nameless. We've even tried making deals.

"if you let me pick this one's first name . . .I get to pick the next one."

Bad ideas all around.

End to a bad day

Dear Ishmael,

To steal dear Lydia's letter from Beetlejuice

I am Alone.

I am utterly Alone.

Today just won't end.


I actually cried over chocolate this evening.


I was devastated to find out after looking through the little purple bag that Alaina's treats were sent to daycare in, that all of Alaina's classmates were sent home with huge chocolate peanut butter hearts.

And the teachers apparently didn't get anything to take home.


So I cried.

But the hormonal winning streak didn't stop there.

Right now my daughter is in her bed screaming her head off. She didn't think she needed to go to bed.

So she refused to go potty

refused to brush her teeth

and refused . . .well, to do anything.

So I picked her up and put her in her bed, kicking and screaming. My husband found this to be a good time to inform me that I should have just let him step in and Alaina would do what he asked because she always listens to him.

I didn't dare to even open my mouth to tell him what a terrible time it was to say that to me.

I'll just sit here and pretend that the terrible twos are going to end exactly on her third birthday.

And try not to ruin it for me, Ishmael or I may cry again.

"There's no crying in the supermarket!"

First, a two part question.

Do you take the kids with you grocery shopping?
Does the hubs come along?

Ponder that while I tell my weekend tale.

One of Jeff's friends (AKA Stupid boys) was coming to town Friday. Jeff has said we were going to have supper together with his a his fiance, but it turns out he just wanted Jeff to meet them for drinks.

Frankly, I was upset because:
1) I've yet to meet this woman, who has birthed his baby . .
2) Jeff didn't call to clarify his plans with his friend until 20 minutes after I should have started supper.

Strike One

Then we have the grocery store incidents. . . I really don't like grocery shopping alone with Alaina, its a challenge to keep her in line and successfully get all the items on my list.

Saturday, I was going to run a few errands. Return movies, hit a great sale at Penney's and buy $2 shoes that I had been watching for 2 months to go dirt cheap (several styles were in Alaina's size) , and buy groceries for the steak supper I wanted to cook for Jeff and I that night.

Problems that arose:
-Alaina wanted to watch a movie in the car, a privilege she only gets on trips 40 min or longer
-After getting her a dvd at the movie store, now she REALLY wanted to watch her movie
-Once we were in the grocery store and Alaina has a little cart to push around, she decided she's rather be in one of the big plastic seat carts designed for more that one kid and drives other shoppers insane as you try to manuever down aisles with it
-She HAD to have a cookie (She knows now that she can get a free one at the bakery)
-After her cookie, she HAD to have a drink of milk which we didn't bring along
-And worse of all, they didn't give me my discount at the registers for bringing in my lovely green bags

Strike Two and the decision was made to skip Penney's.

Then on Sunday . . . .

I took Alaina to the mall and when I got to Penney's they had sold all the shoes in Alaina's size. (Dang it!) She was desperate for a "hammy-burger" (AKA a runza sandwhich) which it took her 45 minutes to eat.

Then later that day it was trip 2 to the grocery store to catch a health market sale and get groceries for the week.

The high/low lights are:
- Alaina cried for a balloon the entire time
-I went to the check stand by the alcohol cellar and they didn't know how to ring up the sale for the health market items so I had to reload my cart and go back to the front.
-Alaina was devastated that we had to go back to the front since she could see our van and cried about not getting to go outside yet.
-While I was in line at the second register, I realized I had forgotten to buy pull-ups and a few other items. But I was so upset by then I decided just to head home.
-A nice (evil) cashier heard Alaina's pleas for a balloon and gave her one.

Strike Three.

I started to cry on the way out to the van. Then I dropped Alaina off at home and took ten minutes to go back and get the things that I had forgotten.

Where was Jeff you ask?

One the couch.

Both times.

The best use for a bar of soap . . .

I was upset last night walking the mall.

As I rounded the Sear's corridor, there were three teenager boys being a bit rowdy on the little kids ride on toys . . .not that I'm bothered by kids being a bit silly, I was there once.

But as I walked past, one of them said the "N" word.

Yep.

The biggest baddest racist slur ever in my book.

I thought I might have heard wrong, but no more that 30 seconds later he said w-h-o-r-e and used the "N" word again. Again!

He wasn't singing a dirty rap song, he wasn't angry about something, and based on the color of his skin and german nose . . . he didn't have some misguided notion that the "N" word is a slang term of endearment for his "bros."

Nope.

He was just being a punk saying racist and sexist comments in a public mall at 6 p.m.

So I walked up and told him to watch his mouth in public places.

I got a half hearted "sorry" and some rude statements muttered under their breath to my back.

What is going on? I can only hope they are just being fools, because the other option is ignorance they learned at home, from the media, or peers.

Pre-pubescent cretins.

If my daughter would have been with me I would have made them apologize.

Yay! I get to go to work!

Literally, that was my thought this morning.

After 5 christmases and two days with no nap for Alaina, I'm ready for some nice solid structured days.

Of course, tomorrow its back to the airport to drop off my sister plus the day off for New Years . . .but at least we will remain at home for the duration of the week.

Christmas was a wonderful time with family all around and several lessons learned. . .

1) bring an extra laundry basket to tote gifts home in, you WILL bring home more than you brought.

2) I really am not fond of big dogs.

3) Missing nap time on day one of break sets the tone for the rest of vacation for the little one and me.

4) Never forget that when your siblings have spouses, your time schedules will never mesh nicely ever again.

5) Having all four of your grandmother's around at out age is a rare thing that one must enjoy . . . but remember that each one very desperately wants to see you for the holidays, so get used to the idea of dissapointing 90-year-old ladies.

6) Even if you only put clothes on your list, you will never get them, at least not the ones you want.

7) My in-laws will never get any gifts off of the list that I send them . . .unless we have already received said gifts from members of my immediate family. (3 duplicate gifts!)

8) I have no place in my mother-in-laws kitchen. She has ruled the house by herself for so long, I can do pretty much nothing to help or help myself. So next year, I'm packing my own stash of snacks to sneak into the house.

Busy Weekend

I've been naughty, not updating my blog very well, but work starting to consume a bit more of my life than I prefer. But there was a bit of excitement in our household this weekend.


We managed to get our family pictures taken, which of course Jeff and I agreed that lil' bit is cute in all of them while we look terribly cheesy. We ordered enough to hand out wallets for a small group of our first year of Christmas cards, and some larger ones for immediate family. I'll post a few of the proofs when i get them in my email.

But the big news is the discovery of a long lost friend.

After many devastating months and finally breaking down to buy a new one to record the momentous occasion of Disney on Ice, Jeff came upon our old camera lying in the basement behind a suitcase in the storage/laundry/Jeff's tool room. There were no pictures past June 19th, but for some reason, the dial was turned to settings (which I never mess with.)

I can only assume that some little fingers found it and tried to bring it down to take a picture of the kitty or was bringing it down to Mommy or Daddy while we were doing laundry.

I'm just excited to have the pictures back. I hadn't down loaded any since December, so I had Grams' "last tour" pics and Brett's 30th b-day in Denver.

And that's about it!

Ick

Coming back to work after a break is the pits.

It appears that everything is broken, when in reality its nothing more that usual.

Jeff said last night he would sacrifice his dignity for our daughter and we should dress up as the Incredibles. Now we just have to figure out who Alaina will be . . I vote for Dash and then she can wear the mask for a little bit.

I keep rediscovering how wonderful it is to have a stylist who knows your hair, after the laughter about how uneven my previous haircut was. I ended up with a cute little bob cut with bangs.

I like it!

But that's about it for the morning.

Back to the pile on the desk. . .
Maybe I'll win that big ol' lottery tomorrow and won't have to worry about this anymore

Put to the test . . .

So before my big mommy story I do have to say I have an interview with "the card store" and BandBWorks tomorrow. We'll see if they look better than Younk*rs.

Yesterday if you have a Younk*rs card you received 20% off of your purchase. So Right after daycare I took Alaina shopping.

Oops, big mistake.

Alaina was bent on doing everything her way yesterday, which meant not staying close to me and ramming the stroller into things.

We had a little talk and decided that we would go home. She decided not to get back in the stroller as suggested by me, so I carried her out the store while I pushed the stroller.

The End. . . .

You mean you don't believe the Idyllic version?

Fair enough.

If someone else would have told the story they might have said it this way.

The little girl stood in the middle of the store and yelled Uh-Uh! at her mother every time the Mother told her she needed to get in the stroller or they would leave, except instead of leaving she gave her about 16 other choices, before she hauled the child up, who by now was wailing and screaming and kicking and carried her back the the elevator.

She wailed all the way out to the car . .
Through the one block drive home . . .
And for the next 45 minutes at least until she finally ran out of steam and decided she needed a drink of milk and to blow her nose.

The moral of the story is

Well there isn't one, but I'm proud of myself for not giving in and letting her win the battle of wits.

Just call me the Sicilian . . . .

AlainaB Training Pants!

They finally posted the schedule for next week for Younkers and guess who got the entire weekend off? That's right me! And without asking!!!

Yaay!

However, this also brings the perfect opportunity for potty training . . .the training pants way!
Alaina just doesn't seem to get the point that having a wet/poopy diaper is an undesirable thing. So I'm going to go all out and put her in training pants this weekend to reinforce the joys of potty training.

I may sound brave, but inside, I'm trembling. I'm hoping she learns a bit this weekend, because the mess that I envision isn't very appealing. Thinking about the nice new carpet in the bedrooms and hall and the white carpet everywhere else gives me quite the deathly pallor.

But it must be done. The praise and encouragement to sit on the potty chair just isn't sinking in.

But enough about the weekend. I have two other things to bog about today.

Thing One.

How hard can it possibly be to find the wallet I want? They need to have a mix and match line that you can add and subtract pieces from. I have some very specific needs that I would like fulfilled.

1) windowed holder for DL - removable if possible
2) 6-10 credit card holders - and why does everything have to have a punch card or rewards card these days?
3) REMOVABLE checkbook (this is kind of optional because I don't carry it often, but I would if it fit nicely into my current wallet.
4) zippered coin holder INSIDE the wallet
5) I would prefer a zip close wallet over all but I really just want a wallet that closes securely
6) I want it long and skinny because I HATE folding dollar bills.
7) Multiple large side pockets for floating media . . .

I mean how hard should that be to find? ; )

Thing Two

Last night after Alaina's bath, we marched downstairs to pick out our pj's

Which led to a lot of hopping since she picked the frog pajamas.

After she practiced "hopping" into the pants, Alaina was being silly and suddenly turned to face Jeff and I and began doing the most impressive belly roll I had ever seen! You know, like Mike Myers in Wayne's World (for some reason that's the only example I can think of. . .)

Jeff and I struggled not to laugh too hard at her since we were trying to keep our game faces on for bedtime.

But we were failing.

I'm not sure yet, but is this a pretty neat thing for your kid to do?
Do I giggle at her antics, thus encouraging the development of the belly roll . . .

or do I stay straight-faced and try to keep her from seeing how impressed I am by her muscle control?

Finally! She blogged!

Yes I did see I was tagged by you, OM!

Yes Sisi I'm going to blog it!

Here is it, my life in ten bullets, or at least the last fifteen years, lets get a visual to start, okay?

1. I was one of two people, the other being my sister, who chose (maternally forced) to walk for a graduation in a school building that was no longer a high school . . .and created a memory that I will never forget because of said force, I MEAN CHOICE!!! ; )

2. I made and lost some friends along the way, but the good ones are still around and were promoted to family members a long time ago . . .

3. I didn't work as hard as I should have, but I managed to graduate from college with a degree, and met some pretty amazing people along the way.

4. While journeying through college, I found two things, my love of sewing, which I find many clever ways to share with everyone. . .

5. And my husband, who I skipped sorority recruitment to hear play his guitar, and found out months later that he sold me his cd's both for the price of one. (you flirt!)

6. Together, we have one beautiful child. And she amazes me everyday . . and much to my parent's delight, seems to be all the best qualities of my siblings and my husband all rolled into one. (Check it out! Her and me, isn't it scary?)

7. Family begins to take a higher priority in life the further they move . . . only two of the four left in state, and it is heartbreaking to think that we aren't all a phone call and 2 hours driving time away.

8. We bought a house the 70s threw up in and we are getting closer to having our own bedroom, we are still sharing the basement with the adorable toddler.

9. I work at a local insurance place, setting up the technical devices for the techies . . .wait, wasn't my degree in English? I still can't figure that one out . . .

10. And The most interesting part of my life, is the discovery that one can have more than one soulmate. I don't know how else to explain being a twin. You grow up having to share everything, which when people thought it sounded cool I would always say, "Imagine that you have twice as much stuff . . but you have to share all of it with someone everyday." So, I get to have two soulmates, but unfortunately they have to share me. Somedays, it was maddening, somedays it was bliss. But no matter what, I couldn't imagine life without either one!

And I'm not tagging anyone! This is fun to do, but its pretty much a chain letter so I can't forward it on principle! (However, I'll blog them, so feel free to keep sending them to me to perish!)

Permanent mistake . . .

Yesterday I took a quick trip to the store leaving Jeff and Alaina home to their own devices.

And when I came home it was to see that while I had been out, our little artist had created a masterpiece for us.

On the couch . . .

and the end table . . .

the phone and tv remote . . .

and several of her toys . . .

and herself

Using a black sharpie.

Oh and did I mention the white carpet too?

Jeff is still mystified how she managed to do so much damage, when she was walking in and out of the kitchen babbling to him as he did the dishes the whole time I was gone.

However I get to share the blame because the rogue marker was apparently left in reachable view by yours truly last week. We managed to clean it completely off all of the surfaces except the carpet.

That particulary tough spot has a date with me and a bleach pen at a later date.

Lesson learned . . . my daughter does not look cute with two black dots on her lips and scribbled on hands.

what I want my child to know . .

For some reason I have been thinking about what wisdom I hope that I can give Alaina that she will hold onto and learn from. I'm thinking I need a top ten list so here's what I have.

10. Always be nice to the new person, be friendly and learn about them, it will turn out that most everything you hear in the first week will be false rumors.
9. Don't do things that you are dared to do. If it was something you should be doing, someone wouldn't have to dare you to do it.
8. Don't force growing up, many things are worth the wait, such as earrings (who wants to have to remember to put them in everyday?), makeup (seriously, if you are too young, your just putting on clown makeup), dating (once you start, you feel obligated to keep looking, its more fun to hang out with your girlfriends) etc
7. Don't drink until you're 21. Stupid things happen. Instead, be the one who gets to tell your friend all the stupid stuff she did while she was intoxicated! Its more fun, plus no hangover.
6. Don't speed. You aren't going to get there that much faster. What are you going to do with that extra ten seconds that you couldn't live without?
5. Be nice to everyone! Even the bully because they might need a friend too.
4. You don't have to have everything that everyone else does. Save your money for important things, like a car or gas for the car. Buy a cup of tea at the coffee house instead of a latte. Its four dollars for a cup for pete's sake! For that much it should be made out of gold!
3. Try everything until you find what you like. Its out there, and once you find it, really go for it, don't just expect it to come to you.
2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! In fact, do all the bonus stuff, this will pay and pave your way to college. That includes practices!
1. Unless you have a boyfriend before the dance, don't take a date. You spend most of the time making sure they aren't bored and you forget to have fun yourself.

I'm sure this will change, but I just keep hoping that When Alaina grows up, she will listen to me sometimes. The number one lesson that I hope I remember, is that I don't want to be my daughter's friend, I want to be her Mom.