First of many

Today….today was a day of a million memories worth preserving forever. When you hold your firstborn in your arms, so many emotions swarm inside you including love like you never knew existed. I had the privilege of spending the past five years day in and day out with one of the most amazing little girls who is totally going to rock this world one day with her love and her ability to lead and direct people.

Today, she rocked kindergarten, and I couldn’t cry and be sad as she got on that bus because I was too proud of her and too happy for her to be sad for me that the time passed so quickly. This was the moment we were thinking of when we moved back to Michigan and as we searched for a house. Kindergarten. The big new beginning. We had debated and prayed over school options for years, and to see it all come together today was breath taking.

MDM#20

We’ve spent the past few months talking a lot about friends and the importance of choosing good ones – friends who are kind and loving and respectful of others and treat people well. We told her there will be kids at school who might be mean and do or say mean things and disobey the teachers. We talked about how we are still to love those kids and be nice to them, but that doesn’t mean we have to play with them and hang out with them. This morning I prayed with her over breakfast and prayed that she would have a good day and meet some great new friends. After I said “Amen” she kept her hands folded and said, “And help me to know which friends will be good and which ones won’t be good.” Amen.

MDM#21

As she got on the bus, I was so concerned about getting a picture and not holding up the bus that I almost forgot to give her a hug and kiss. As I was nudging her to the bus she said, “MOM! Hug and kiss!” Aww, I love that, in front of the whole bus even. I snapped a quick picture and the driver checked her name off a list and showed her where to sit. Little Miss waved at me out the window and blew a hug and kiss with an ear to ear grin as they drove off. My heart swelled.

MDM #22

We had also talked about lunch quite a bit. Little Miss can be quite the chatterbox, especially at meal times. I told her it was going to be tempting to want to talk to all her new classmates at lunch, but that it’s important she eat her food first because they only have 20 minutes. We talked about how important it is to eat a good lunch so you don’t get hungry in the afternoon and can pay attention better in class. I went over the lunch I packed for her – pb&j, grapes and pretzels. I told her it would be best to eat the pb&j and grapes first for the most energy and if she ran out of time for the pretzels that would be ok. She came home from school and I asked her about lunch and how it went. “Mom, I did just what you told me – I ate the pb&j and grapes first and not all the pretzels and I still had time to talk!”

MDM #23

Almost in direct response to our breakfast prayer request, she was excited to tell me that she sat with a friend on the bus – another kindergartner that she had met at Safety Town a few weeks ago and had become friends with. We had no idea she would be on the same bus. She was rather excited to see someone she knew to ride with.

MDM #24

T-Rex refused to take any pictures with Little Miss this morning. I think he didn’t know what to think. After she left, I asked him if he was going to miss her. He looked at me and had to think for a second and then said, “Uhhh….well…..ye….no.” And went back to playing legos. My father-in-law came and took him fishing for the day. He had his own adventure to look forward to.

Grocery Drama

On a recent visit to my parent’s home, I was running a few errands solo when I decided to stop by a discount grocery store for a few items. I was unfamiliar with this area of town and realized when I stepped into the grocery that it might not have been the best place to go alone. Undeterred, I started down the first aisle looking for spiral pasta. Two women walked into the store behind me, and one started to narrate rather loudly her shopping trip.

“Ooooh yeah, baby! I’m gonna get me some pork rinds, yeah and I’m gonna eat some pork rinds tonight, Uh-huh!!”

I did my best not to turn around and stare, and kept working through my short list while listening to the narration that continued behind me. The store is set up in a fashion that you can see across the aisles, giving everyone in the store a view of this annoyingly loud customer. As I turned the corner and started down the second aisle, I chanced a quick glance into the first aisle to get a look at this obnoxious woman who seemed determined we all know her opinions of each item in the store. No sooner had I turned my eyes back to my list when I heard a very loud, “I SAW YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE I WAS ALL GHETTO!”

I’m sure my eyes got as wide as dinner plates and it took everything within me to keep my laughter from exploding like a geyser. I saw a customer next to me look at me with disdain. I’m not one to usually pick a fight in the grocery store, or anywhere for that matter. In my half-second glance I had surmised that the loud narrating woman was about twice my size, but I figured I could outrun her. However, since I really needed the items on my list so I could make a salad for a party the next day, I decided to ignore the comment, keep my eyes forward, and find those yellow and red peppers as fast as I could.

Some people seek attention in the most unusual ways.

Million dollar moment #19

Hidden Costs of Running

When I started running a year ago, I started to in part because 1. I lost a bet with the Narrator and 2. my doctors told me to get active again and 3. I thought running would be a cheap and easy way to fulfill #1 and #2. After all,  you only need  shorts, a tshirt, shoes and a road right?

After I got over the sticker shock of getting new shoes to accomodate the miles I was putting on my feet (finding a bunch of cute running clothes on clearance helped!) I began to realize that beyond the shoes, clothes and energy gels (necessary for most runs beyond 10 miles) there were some hidden costs to running.

1. Laundry. Runners go through a lot of clothes. It seems to be that once your body gets in the sweating mode, it just doesn’t want to stop. The other night, I ran a nice 5 miles, took a shower, and got into my pjs. By the time I was ready to go to bed, I was freezing. It was then that I realized that the back of my shirt was SOAKED. I had just taken a shower, and I was covered in sweat again. This phenomenon takes place not just after a run. It seems that once you open that floodgate of sweat, whether you have run that day or not, those pores just…pour! I guess I can’t get after my kids for changing clothes 3 times a day anymore.

2. Deodrant. So along with the pours, I mean pores and sweat comes the need for deodrant. No longer can the average deodrant take the case. I actually bought one called “marathon.” No lie. I don’t remember the brand, but it seems to help. A little. Just don’t take a close look at my pits if you see me. Not that you’d want to, but if you get curious….I warned you!

3. Advil. I should buy stock in advil. After a 10 miler the other night, my running partner said her knees were complaining and The Narrator offered her some advil, and as an afterthought asked, “Do you take advil?” She looked at him with a duh expression. Enough said.

4. Clothes. And by clothes I’m not talking about running clothes. I’m talking regular clothes, because when you run 20+ miles a week, the pounds naturally drop no matter HOW much chocolate you eat (insert hallelujah chorus here!).  I learned once at a sewing seminar that for every 10 pounds you drop, that equals about 2 inches as well. So far, I believe that theory to be true, based on the size of my shorts.

5. Bandaids. I went through a phase this spring where I got blisters every time I ran. Fortunately, a new pair of shoes took care of the problem (I pity the sales man whose face I stuck my blistered feet into and said – please tell me what I need to not get these!). However, before the new shoes, I went through at least a dozen bandaids with every run. I had a blister on one foot that took 8 good size bandaids to cover. It was nasty! I think that spot will forever be scarred.

6. Food. The whole “carbing up” phrase is for real. It is possible to empty yourself completely of all energy you have consumed in the past 24 hours. Energy gels will keep you going until you finish your miles, but about an hour or two after a long run, boy am I HUNGRY! Give me some protein, and some pasta, and potatoes! Yeah! For someone who loves to eat, this may be the best thing about running. I can eat, and not worry about counting calories. Not that I ever really counted calories, but that’s besides the point. I use dailymile.com to track my training, and I love, love, love hitting that little arrow button that calculates how many calories I have burned. 1,100 calories on a 10 mile run? Bring on the pizza baby!

I am in love with running. I’m hooked, and I really can’t believe it. I love how I feel, I love the sense of accomplishment, and I love that it tones my arms just from swinging them back and forth. I. Love. To. Run. So much so, that I’m planning on running the Detroit full marathon this October, just because I’m crazy.

Just poke my eye out while you’re at it!

We’ve been here a year, and I’m finally getting all our medical stuff transfered and set up. That’s quite a bit for a whole family – eye drs, dentists, pediatrician, dr for me, one for hubby…. and not to mention how much I hate having to do all things medical. I’m rather squeamish. Ok, very squeamish. I once passed out getting an immunization. In high school. In fact, the nurse’s son was in my youth group and that night by the time I got to youth choir practice, everyone knew about my fainting episode. That must have been before the days of patient/client confidentiality. I think I slugged him one. He deserved it.

Anyway, Friday I went to the eye doctor. This one is usually my least painful of the medical exams, even though it’s full of such pressure. I can’t stand it when they show me these images and ask me which one is clearer “A, or B… A, or B… A, or B” I can always tell by the third time that the technician is trying to be patient, but is ready to move on already. It’s so much pressure! If I answer incorrectly, I might not be able to see well! And my eyes are bad enough to begin with. Half the time I end up answering, “Ummm….neither really.” And I mean it!

Last Friday was quite the doozy of a visit. They were extra thorough (surely it couldn’t be because I’m in my 30′s now???). Then they put these drops in my eyes that burn, baby, burn! As if the burning wasn’t enough, then they shine this super bright light right in front of your eyeball. And then she sneak attacked the drops to dilate my eyes. I’ve tried to avoid that as often as I can. I’ve always had some lame legitimate excuse. “I’m pregnant.” or “I’m breastfeeding.” (I mean the drops COULD get in my milk right? And we don’t want to harm the baby’s vision!) Or the “I’m just not feeling well today and I have to drive myself home.” Well, this gal must have seen me coming. She asked, “You’ve had your eyes dilated before, right?” And she had that bottle hovering over my eyes before I barely had “yes” out of my lips. AH! She was too quick for me to make an excuse! She then led me stumbling down the hallway to the next room where I waited for the doctor. Grrr. I had driven myself in hopes of making it to the grocery on my way home.

After the exam (during which the doctor took a cell phone call…I was sooo not happy at this point! Tired Momma with burning, dilated eyes!!) I headed out to my car with my awesome sunglasses on. I made it to the grocery across the street only to realize I couldn’t read my list. I held my list way far out, then super close, then somewhere in the middle I found a distance that if I closed one eye, I could read it. Sorta. I’m sure I looked ridiculous in the store. I finally gave up and got what I could remember and headed home, shy a few items. My mother-in-law was headed out as I got home and she said she’d get what I hadn’t. She went over the list with me and when I answered, “I got plain yogurt,” she looked at me, and even though I couldn’t see well, I could sense she wanted to chuckle. “No, what you got was strawberry yogurt.” Doggone it!! All I could do was laugh, and then lay down on the couch to rest my weary eyes.

Sprung forward on my face

Image courtesy sxc.hu

This has been an eventful time change week for me. I’ve never liked the spring forward time change. I NEED that hour of sleep! Come on people, we have little kids here. This messes us up for weeks! And then to top it all off, mid-January I started eating really, really clean – and that included cutting caffeine out entirely. After being a miserable grizzly bear woken up in the dead of winter for 3 days, my withdrawal symptoms went away and I found myself more energized than ever. Since then, I’ve only had 4 cups of regular coffee – 3 of those were this week! (I had one cup last week by accident when at the McD’s drive through I forgot to say decaf and didn’t realize it until I took my first sip. I was jittery all day!)

The messed up week started on Monday. I know, time change was on Saturday night, but we go to church on Saturday nights, so Sundays are really lazy for us. I’m a night owl, and I have a hard time going to bed at a decent hour anyway, then change the time on me and I’m really messed up. I stayed up waaay too late on Sunday night. Monday morning, remembering how incredibly energized that one cup of accidental regular coffee made me, I decided to re-heat a cup of coffee in the microwave from the pot my husband had made the day before. (I know, that’s really desperate to reheat day old coffee!) When I pulled the cup of coffee out of the microwave, it was empty. Talk about confused! At first I looked to see if it had spilled all over the microwave, when in my groggy state I realized the cup was CLEAN. I had put it in the microwave without ever putting any coffee in it. Sad, sad morning my friends! I tried again and this time succeeded.

The next day while out and about, I decided to leave it to McD’s drive through to make sure I actually got coffee in my cup on the first try. They did a much better job than I had done the day before. And today….I managed to get coffee in the cup first try (reheated again). BUT, I was getting out of bed just 15 minutes before we were supposed to be walking out the door for Bible study. Oh mercy. I’m just really glad I had set everyone’s (green) clothes and shoes out the night before, and that my kids are able to dress themselves. We made it on time somehow. I’m sure I looked a little frazzled – but at least I had my coffee so I was a bit wired and not at all sleepy during Bible study. Maybe that’s why my group looked at me a little funny a couple times during class….frazzled curly-haired, fast talking, wide-eyed, crazy class member!!

My superhero identity

I married into a superhero-loving household. My husband grew up on a steady diet of comic books and thinks he’s Superman. He actually really is. Just don’t tell anyone else. In fact, I was quickly immersed into the world of superheroes. He discovered on our honeymoon that I had never seen any of the Batman movies. Since there was a new Batman movie coming out that year, I had to catch up on the series. We rented and watched all the Batman movies in a Batman movie marathon one night on our honeymoon. I dreamed about the Batmobile that night! No joke! And I was hooked.

The superhero culture has continued in our home, especially now that we have kids. They have capes and run around the house with their initialed fabric flying behind them. I’ve now seen almost all the superhero movies. I ask The Narrator a ton of questions during each one, and he fills me in on back stories that only an avid comic book reader would know. I really loved Dark Knight and Iron Man. Those might be my favorite two of recent years.

I was thinking the other day about my superhero identity. I was getting ready to attend a baby shower that I had made a diaper bag for, so I decided I had better go to the shower “in character.” Whenever I attend an event where my gift is hand crafted (which is every event I attend these days, I rarely buy gifts anymore) after my gift is opened, the next questions are always, “Do you sew clothes? Did you make what you’re wearing?” I’ve learned it’s easiest just to wear an outfit that I’ve made so I can answer, “Yes, and Yes.” At this particular shower the mama-to-be shrieked over her bag and pulled me to the front of the crowd. She was so sweet and kind and flattering. I was blushing and ready to shrink back into the corner in all my introvertedness.

I don’t view my skills as a rarity because I grew up around hand crafting. My mom, grandmas and aunts all sewed, crocheted, knitted, crafted with shells, and decorated cakes. My Dad and grandpas were woodworkers and photographers. The Narrator’s family is the same way with the same list of talents. All my sister-in-laws on both sides of the family are just as gifted. We’re all rather crafty and we love to create together when we can.

Nonetheless, I’m finding that this craftiness is slowly becoming part of my identity. During one of our pizza parties, I looked around the room and saw pieces of myself all over – flip flops I had crocheted fuzzy string around, a diaper bag I’d made, a dress I’d made for a little girl’s birthday, bibs I’d made, receiving blankets – all items I had created and given as gifts to my friends at some point in time.  I stopped and smiled, because I realized all those items meant something to my friends, and hopefully they were a symbol of how much love I had put into each one of them.

So I guess if I had a superhero identity, I’d have an Amy Butler print cape with an appliqued pink “S” on the back. My superhero weapons would be a pair of tailor’s scissors, a tape measure and a set of  knitting needles. You better watch out for those flying balls of yarn (tossed in love of course!!).

It’s a Small, Small, World!

Ok, everyone sing with me now,

“its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small, small world”

Ok, now that you all have that stuck in your heads…actually, when we went to Disney World for my birthday we took the kids on the It’s a Small World ride, and seriously, it may have been their favorite ride of the day. They sat there with their eyes wide open staring at all the pretty little people and were mesemerized the whole time. Little Miss still talks about it. And I can never mention that ride without bringing up the fact that as a senior in high school while on a youth group trip, my friends and I got stuck on that ride for half hour. In the Africa section. Sometimes, late at night, when it’s quiet, I can still hear that drumbeat – drum dada drum drum, dada drum drum. But I digress from my real point.

I feel slightly like a cat who is accumulating 9 lives. Not in the sense that I’ve had these near-death experiences, but that I’ve literally had a few different lives. First there was my life growing up in Ohio until I graduated from high school. Then there was my life in Michigan during college and my early married years. Then there has been my life in Florida for the past 5 1/2 years during my early motherhood, and now I’m about to embark on my 2nd Michigan life. I sometimes get a little confused when talking to people and sharing stories. I forget who knows who. I’ll start to relay some information and then stop mid-sentence realizing that what I’m about to share is going to make absolutely no sense because this person does not know the person from my other life.

But when it gets REALLY confusing for me, is when my multiple lives begin to intersect. (At least it’s not my multiple personalities!) Like when my high school classmate Gabe married Marla, who went to college with my friend Jenna who I met when she first moved to Michigan from the East Coast. Hmmhmmm. See what I mean?

So this past weekend, I was browsing my Facebook news feed when I saw that an acquaintance from my church here in Florida had tagged in some photos a gal that I worked with in Michigan about 10 years ago. I looked at that again and clicked on the pictures, completely confused. I looked at the pictures and realized that this lady I had met at church in Florida was the SISTER to my friend that I worked with for a few years in the marketing department of a Christian ministry in MICHIGAN. I sat there with my jaw hanging open and then fired off messages to both of them. “YOU ARE SISTERS????” Turns out my co-worker friend was in town visiting her sister and was going to be at church on Sunday. So we arranged a meeting in-between services at the cafe at which point we marveled at the wonder that is Facebook and how incredibly, amazingly small this world is. I hadn’t seen this sweet gal in probably 8 years, so The Narrator went and picked up the kids from their classes and she had a chance to meet them too. We chit-chatted and she caught me up on the news at the old place and where everyone was now and encouraged me to swing by and say hi when we are back in Michigan. It was amazing.

And so I rest my case.

“its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small, small world”

My Magical Birthday

My birthday was one of those magical days when you realize you are loved. It was one of those days where all the little “extras” added up for one life-long memory.

my birthday ticket

I’ve been to Disney a few times before, but this particular day the magic started at the ticket counter. I took advantage of the FREE birthday ticket! Already it’s a great day! I stood in line with my printout and a kind cast member was going through the lines telling everyone who was there for a birthday ticket to get in a special line. It was kind of funny because as we were all standing in line we realized we all shared the same birthday, so we started chuckling and greeting each other with “Happy Birthday!” “Well Happy Birthday to you too!!” At the ticket window, the gentleman greeted me with a big smile and the first of many, many cheery “Happy Birthday!!” greetings. I got an ultra cool souvenier ticket and a button to wear all day long announcing that it was my birthday. And everywhere I went ALL day long, ALL the cast members told me Happy Birthday. Never, ever, ever have I heard that phrase so happily said to me so many times in one day. In fact, we were walking down the street in Liberty Square when my father-in-law nudged me and pointed out a guy standing just outside a shop who had been HOLLERING a birthday greeting to me several times to get my attention. I hadn’t even seen him. But he saw me!

Little Miss Sunshine's gift pin

Our first stop of the day was a gift shop so Little Miss could purchase an autograph book with her birthday money. As she was checking out,  I noticed the cashier cast member had a Spanish accent, so I told Little Miss to tell her “gracias!” As Little Miss thanked her in Spanish, the lady’s eyes lit up and she reached behind the counter to get a special pin. She told Little Miss that she wanted to give her something, and handed her a TinkerBell pin that Little Miss wore proudly all day long. “Now we both have pins, Mama!” I instructed her to tell the kind lady, “MUCHAS Gracias!!”

I had wanted to do a few things we had never done before at Disney – the big one being having lunch with the Pooh characters at the Crystal Garden. I had called the day before to make reservations but they were all booked up. The kind lady on the phone instructed me to try to stop by the restaurant the day of our visit and see if they had any openings. I figured it was a lost cause and wasn’t going to plan our day around trying to get into a restaurant. But as lunchtime approached, my mother-in-law sent my father-in-law and her brother (who works at Disney) over to the restaurant to check availability while the kids and I rode the teacups. (Since I’m the only one in the family who can take the spinning with the kids!) My father-in-law said he asked if they had any openings and the lady told him at first that they didn’t. Then she thought for a second and said she’d check with her manager. She came back and told him they had 1 table open in 35 minutes! We had a flurry of cell phone calls to each other and we rushed from the teacups over to the restaurant just in time to have our name called.

T loving on Pooh!

Oh. My. Word. Lunch was AMAZING. I was so glad that we got in. First off, it was all-you-can-eat buffet and it was maybe the best food I’ve ever eaten. In fact, you know it’s good when the Uncle who works at Disney is impressed. We ate so much that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk around the rest of the day! While we were dining, Tigger, Eeyore, Pooh and Piglet walked around to all the tables signing autographs, conducting a parade, taking pictures and making the kids feel really special. It was so delightful to eat in a relaxed environment and have the characters come to the table. Our server noticed my birthday button and returned with confetti that she sprinkled on the table (mickey shaped of course!). Then after we had eaten, she returned with a cupcake and a candle and everyone sang to me. One of the little extras was that the table next to us also had a birthday. Their little boy turned 3 that day. They had pre-ordered a birthday cake and when they were finished with it, they brought the remaining half to our table and said they wanted to share it with us because they couldn’t eat it all. That was so nice of them! So I told the little birthday boy that I was also 3, but with a 2 on the end! The parents laughed.

meeting Fawn the animal fairy

It was just magical to experience Disney through my kids eyes and see their eyes light up talking to the characters. (T-Rex couldn’t stop “petting” Pooh!) The funniest of funny was watching T-Rex get all googly-eyed around the princesses and fairies. He’s all gung-ho and chatty the rest of the day, but around the pretty girls he is SPEECHLESS and all grins. Oh my goodness what a riot! And of course Little Miss is all chatty with the characters, but she couldn’t quite understand why the big fuzzy characters didn’t talk – only the people characters did. It didn’t make any sense to her because in the movies Pooh and Tigger talk. Ah the magic for them at this age is that everything is REAL to them. It’s a joy as parents to re-live a bit of that mysterious, magical imagination that we lost somewhere along the living of reality. To see the nighttime parade through their eyes for the first time, to see the wonder of fireworks over the castle – it truly was a magical day, and I loved every minute of it.

Thirty-two

Today I am 32 years old. While 32 may seem like just another random birthday in the natural succession of years, it holds a bit of significance for me.

When I was about 15 or 16, I remember studying my face in the mirror and thinking I looked quite old. I leaned onto the bathroom counter until my nose touched the mirror. I leaned my head this way and that way and squinted just to make sure. Yup. I was sure. My face looked old. Much older than it should have looked for 15. My Mom came around the corner just then and asked me what in the world I was doing. “Mom, I look so OLD. I have wrinkles and dry skin! I look like I’m 32 or something!!” My Mom got quite the kick out of that as you can imagine. She also made sure to relay my comment to an aunt, who happened to be 32 at the time. I never heard the end of it.

So now I have arrived. And this time, I really do have a few wrinkles and dry skin to show for it. But somehow, inside, I don’t feel any older than 16!!

Auntie

Four years ago I became a mother, and six months after that, I became an aunt to a very energetic and hilarious nephew who reminds me so much of my brother. I now also have 5 precious nieces between both sides of our families. Sadly, I’ve always lived at least 1,000 miles from all the cuties, so I don’t feel like much of an aunt. I consider it an incredible privilege and responsibility to support our siblings as they raise their kids by reinforcing the values and skills they are instilling in their families. And as auntie, you sometimes can give kids a little bit of extra insight into their parents. I mean, who else knows all the crazy stories and stunts and childhood secrets that we promised we’d never tell Mom? It’s incredible fun to see mini-siblings running around repeating history in front of your eyes!

I had a very special aunt that I loved dearly while growing up. She was my mom’s older sister and we got along so well. My mom is a middle child, so when it came to birth order personalities, my aunt and I “understood” each other as firstborns. She was an amazing seamstress and cross-stitcher. I remember several occasions when I would be frustrated with a project I was trying work on and she’d give just a snippet of advice that would spur me on. It’s not that my Mom couldn’t help me – no one taught me more than my Mom did – but my aunt now and then gave me just the umph I needed to keep listening to my Mom’s advice, or added to it just a touch to help me out.

Through adulthood, it’s been fun to get to know our aunts and uncles on a different level. The Narrator has a few aunts and uncles who feel more like older siblings to us, especially now that we are parents as well. We share the same family and the same values, and they are just a few steps ahead of us, and not so far removed from parenting kids as young as ours as to have forgotten what it’s like. Again, in our adulthood, they continue to support what are parents instilled in us.

I hope some day I’m not so incredibly far away from my nieces and nephew. But for now, I’ll treasure each moment I get to spend with them and watch them grow up and make hilarious memories with them when I can! (And maybe now and then give my brother a payback or two! shhh!)