Tickle Fest

One recent evening, Little Miss was sitting on my lap and we were having a tickle fest. She’s never been one to sit and cuddle; even as a baby she was always on the go, constantly wiggling and moving. So tickling has been our method of “cuddling.”

I paused in the tickle fest and began to whisper in her ear about how ticklish her daddy is, and where his tickle spots are. As we were whispering, The Narrator walked over with a “And what’s that you’re talking about, huh?” Without skipping a beat, Little Miss replied, “Shirts. We’re talking about how many shirts I have in my closet.”

The Narrator didn’t buy her attempt at a white lie, and replied while lurching at me, “Your Momma has lots of ticklish spots too!” Next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor, laughing uncontrollably trying to get away.

In an instant, I felt something physically release inside of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed that hard – the kind of laughter where you can’t help yourself and you couldn’t stop if you tried. They say that laughter is the best medicine, and as I lay writhing on the floor, I felt something penetrate my bones and move through my body. I was lighter. Life was simpler. I was a kid again. I was 17 and falling in love with the man of my dreams. I hadn’t a care in the world, and was flattered by his attentions. My life full of potential and unlimited dreams lay before me. All that from laughter resonating deep in the soul.

He finally let me go with a twinkle in his eye. The kids had joined in too. T-Rex had pounced on my head tickling my neck, and Little Miss was pulling on my leg trying to save me. I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes. Before I resumed the weight of adulthood, I lingered in the light carefree moment and breathed in my family.

I’m not saying that we should all be tickled once a week until we laugh so hard we can’t breathe, but it was nice to laugh so hard and just let go of adult assumptions and pretentions.

#4 Million Dollar Moments

Sunset Run

The Narrator tried to get me to run with him after we first got married. He tried again a few years later while we both worked at the University. I should have listened. But no, I waited until we have two kids and schedules are complicated to decide to run.

When I started running a year ago, The Narrator would run with me occasionally to help me get to my next mile goals. He’s a chipper runner, all energetic and upbeat, the endorphins giving him a Batman Jokeresque smile. He seemed like the Joker, and the joke was on me, and my legs, and my lungs. I huffed and puffed to keep up, knowing even when I did keep up, he was still keeping a slower pace on my account.

A year of consistent running and I’m a much stronger runner. I’m still not fast, and probably never will be, but I have endurance. Lots of endurance. My parents were visiting this past weekend, and I needed to get in a run to keep up with my marathon training schedule. Since my parents were here, the Narrator threw on his Five Fingers, and we had the rare chance to run together. It was so different from a year ago. I knew that while my pace was still slower than his, it was only slightly slower, and I was able to carry on a conversation rather than constantly gasping for air. We ran a route I’d never run by myself. We headed out of our hood and through our new little town dodging shoppers catching an evening deal. Our path ran along the river, the evening breeze cooling us, and the fireflies flitting along beside us. The sun gradually set taking the humidity with it. We continued our seven mile trekk, sharing a love of running, a love of being in touch with our bodies – even the aching knee (his, not mine), and a love of just being together. We chatted about our kids, our lives, our running strategies, and just how content and blessed we feel at this point in our lives.

We rounded the corner towards home and I started to sprint. So different from a year ago. So many things are so very different. So very good. So very blessed. Like the year of running and developing endurance, that’s how our lives together have been for the past few years, building endurance and patience and all those hard character qualities that can only be built over time and through conscious effort.

It was a beautiful night for a run with the one I love.

#2 Million Dollar Moments.

Lentil Love

My kids are pretty good eaters. At my husband’s request, we don’t eat a lot of meat. In fact, he’d be perfectly fine if I never served meat ever again. My kids are good sports and they try most everything, and we eat some stuff that would be considered quite odd in normal households. Last night, I sat at dinner and chuckled thinking to myself what an unusual food- love I had stumbled upon. My kids devoured our dinner, asked for seconds, and thirds, and we had no leftovers. And it wasn’t chicken fingers or mac ‘n cheese; I made lentil and veggie tostadas. Little Miss asked for more lentils. And more. And more. She apparently loves lentils. And T-Rex devoured the veggies (lentils too, but he wanted more veggies) – zucchini, squash, broccoli, he was even snacking on them raw off my cutting board while I was mixing things up. I hope we are able to continue this love of healthy, not-the-norm foods as they grow older!

I would have taken a picture…but they devoured them too quickly!

lentil & veggie tostadas (from Better Homes & Gardens easy vegetarian dinners)

1 3/4 c water
3/4 dry yellow or green lentils, rinsed and drained
1/4 c chopped onions
1 to 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tostada shells
2 cups assorted chopped veggies such as broccoli, tomato, zucchini and/or yellow summer squash
3/4 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Start to finish 40 mins, makes 4 servings

In a medium saucepan stir together ater, lentils, onion, cilantro, salkt sumin, and garlic. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 25-30 mins or until lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Use a fork to mash the cooked lentils.

Spread the lentil mixture on tostada shells, top with vegetables and cheese. Place on a large baking sheet, Broil 3-4 inches from the heat about 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

It’s really good served with fresh salsa. YUM!

Conversational Cuteness

It’s been such a long time since I’ve posted that I’ve got to get some of this conversational cuteness out. I’ll ease back into blogging

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Little Miss Sunshine has been “making” breakfast lately. She pulls the milk and cereal out and puts them on the table, and then comes and tells me that she made breakfast and it is ready. A couple days ago, there was a fight that erupted over who was going to put the milk on the table. T-Rex insisted that he wanted to get the milk out of the fridge and put it on the table.
LM – No the milk is full and it’s too heavy for you!
T – I get the milk!!
LM – It’s too heavy for you!
T – I have big muscles!!
LM – It’s too full!!
T – (now screaming) I HAVE BIG MUSCLES!!!! I HAVE BIG MUSCLES!!!
He has big muscles. And he put the milk on the table.

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A couple days after Halloween, The Narrator was dishing out one piece of candy to each kid. T-Rex had picked a lollipop but then decided it was too hard and wanted something he could chew. The Narrator said, “Here, buddy, have a Tootsie Roll. They are chewy.” Little Miss, with a mouthful of chocolate said, “I want a se(x)y roll!” I looked at The Narrator trying very hard not to laugh, because that is not something I want to hear about from her Sunday School teacher and asked, “Did she just say se(x)y roll?!” Oh yes she did. Needless to say, that one has become quite the little joke between us here at home!!

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Stories are a big deal around this house. I’m not the only one who loves to tell them. Little Miss is getting into stories too. We stayed with one of The Narrator’s brothers and wife for about a week while we were in Michigan a few weeks ago. As we were pulling out of the driveway to spend the last couple days of our trip at his parents’ house, Little Miss said rather matter-of-factly, “That was the story of Uncle K and Aunt M. The end!” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!!

Thirty-one

Today is The Narrator’s 31st birthday. Eleven years ago, we said “I do” a few weeks before his 20th birthday. I adore this man with all my heart. We grew from childhood to adulthood together, and there’s no one else I’d rather be spending my life with and raising a family with. What’s rather interesting is that our pre-marriage counselor said she normally wouldn’t recommend two people who are so opposite to get married. She was curious to see how we’d turn out in a few years. I should write her a letter It’s true, we’re as opposite as they come on many points, and I suppose that’s partly what drew us together, and it’s definitely what keeps life interesting!! So today, on his special day, I celebrate our differences. It’s that opposite-ness that strengthens us, stretches us, causes us to never stop dialoguing and sometimes is just plain entertaining!

His perfect vacation would be in the mountains. The last time I went to the mountains, I came home with pneumonia. Give me the beach, please!

He doesn’t like to be sandy. I love the sand between my toes.

His favorite color is black. Is that really a color or is it the absence of color? I prefer pink.

He is a mellow fellow. I’m wound as tight as a rubber band ball.

He has a killer tan. All year round. Even when we lived in Michigan. Without the help of tanning aids I’m fair skinned and burn at the sight of the sun. SPF 50 please!

I’m compelled to obey all the rules all the time. He’s a free jaywalking bird!

He is deeply artistic and creative. My stick people look bad.

He’s a dreamer, a big-picture thinker. I see the little details that have to happen along the way.

He has music playing in the background all the time. When I’m alone I prefer silence.

He knows all the words to every single song he’s ever heard even just once. I can’t remember the words to the songs we sing at church every week.

He sings along with the radio. I prefer to just listen, or hum.

I’m a worrier, he’s full of faith.

Happy, happy birthday, Narrator!!!!!

SE(X)Y INTELLIGENT

Apparently that’s me. (Or so I was told.) How’s that for contrasting blog titles? Now that I have jolted your attention, on with the story. HA!

The last weekend in June The Narrator and I celebrated our 11th anniversary by attending a co-worker’s wedding on Captiva Island. It was a beautiful day (albeit hot and sticky). The bride was gorgeous and the sunset and storm that rolled in (after the ceremony!) were stunning. Since The Narrator works for a company with only about a dozen employees, this wasn’t your typical co-worker’s wedding scenario. We actually know all of his co-workers and their spouses/significant others, and it’s like a mini-family type situation.

The bride and groom smartly seated all of us together, in the very, very back corner of the reception hall. Actually, we weren’t even in the same room as the reception!! We were in an adjoining room connected to the main hall with french doors. We all laughed when we saw our table. I can imagine the seating discussion, “Your co-workers are all coming? That’s nice; they can sit here in the very back corner of the adjoining room. We’ll put them next to the bar so they really won’t mind, and they can have all the fun they want without disrupting anyone else!” She is one smart, smart, smart bride. The groom did well for himself!

This past year, the company hired their first female employee. I felt badly for her at first, because I know how boy-ish the office can get. But she quickly proved she can handle her own, and all of them.  The Narrator and I had not had a chance to get to know her husband yet, so we thoroughly enjoyed some great conversation with him over dinner. He’s career military and was stationed in Alaska for awhile (The Narrator was born there and his family has spent a lot of time in Alaska). We had delightful conversation and enjoyed getting to know their story a little more.

A few days ago, The Narrator came home from work and said, “Apparently you made a good impression on K’s husband.” I raised my eyebrows and waited for the explanation. He smiled and said, “She told me he said you had a se(x)y intelligent vibe about you.” I started laughing out loud. The Narrator grinned. (For the record, the day The Narrator passed this compliment along, I had not taken a shower, I had no makeup on, and I was exhausted from lots of whining.)

The part that meant the most to me was the intelligent part of the compliment. The Narrator reminded me that he is a fairly high-ranking military officer who works with intelligent people and issues every day. This confirms that motherhood has not turned my brain to mush. After a day that has been full of whining and sibling disputes, Dora and potty talk, I often wonder about the state of my brain cells. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that my brain often feels like mush not from lack of use, but rather from over-use.

As I pondered this topic a little more, I began to realize that motherhood has taught me invaluable people skills that I failed to gain in 8 ½ years in the work place. Motherhood is certainly trial by fire in the people skill department. In fact, I have a theory that mother’s intuition is founded in our ability to subconsciously observe. That “eyes in the back of our head” really is just that – eyes buried in our subconscious mind that are always observing and taking in our environments. I think that God flips a switch in women that is permanently “on” once they become a mom. We know when kids are sick before they do. We know when a new tooth is coming in because of the type of fuss and chewing. We know when they have to go potty just by the look in her eyes and slight wiggle of the hips. There are thousands of nonverbal cues that we have internalized and just “know” what they mean. Our brains really are incredible.

Those little people skills translate well into big people skills too, I believe. I’ve found myself unconsciously observing people and conversations, and sometimes I walk away from an interaction sensing much more than what was actually said. My senses and spirit often are tuned in to a frequency that I had missed prior to motherhood.

I’m just beginning my motherhood journey. I can only imagine how in-touch my brain will be in another 15 years!

The bet has been called

In November of 2006, I lost a bet with my husband. Lesson learned: never make a bet with your husband especially when you’re under the influence of post-pregnancy hormones.

The Narrator’s sister was living in town at the time and had met a wonderful man on e-harmony. We knew he was going to propose (because he had asked us to try to find out what kind of ring she would like), we just didn’t know when. He was coming to visit over Thanksgiving while the in-laws were here. The Narrator thought Future Brother-in-law would propose during that trip. I thought he’d wait until she went to visit him over Christmas. Apparently those baby hormones made me feisty, and we made a bet.

He proposed over Thanksgiving. The Narrator gloated. My price for losing? Doing a triathlon with The Narrator. Yes, a triathlon as in swimming a crazy distance, then biking an insane amount of miles, then willing your legs to run a few miles or 10 and dropping from exhaustion at the finish line. Fortunately, I had just had a baby, and so I was exempt from any physical activity for at least six weeks eighteen months.

Last weekend, the subject of the triathlon came up again. The Narrator started talking about how he had convinced most everyone at work to do one with him, and then he said, “D’s wife is going to do it too.” I narrowed my eyes, knowing exactly where this conversation was going, “Good for her” I sneered. His eyes lit up, “You know you still owe me one.” Silence from me while I racked my brain for a list of legitimate excuses. I proceeded to list the things I do not have that we would have to buy, not limited to but including: a bike, googles, swim cap, and race attire. “Oh, we can work that out. Trust me, I’ve been researching and I’ve got it covered. And look, once you have a bike, we can get one of these and have family outings on our bikes.” He then whipped open the K-Mart ad and pointed to one of those pull behinds toddlers can ride in. He’d obviously been scheming this conversation. Oh, but the icing on the cake was this: “Hey, and when you do this with me, then you’ll be making those pants a size smaller!” He was totally referring to a conversation we’d had five minutes prior to this one where I was lamenting over a pair of pants I was sewing and how I’d had to make them a size larger to fit my hips. He’s a smart one, that Narrator.

I sighed and asked the time frame. He then informed of the Publix Famliy Fun Weekends which is a series of sprint triathlons through the summer and fall. The good (?) thing about a sprint, is at least it’s only (insert sarcasm here) a 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. Ha. I’ve never run more than 2 miles in my life, let alone after doing all that other stuff first!!!!

He’s shooting for the August 2nd event. I’m stalling for mid-October. I really don’t think that 8 weeks is enough time for me to get in shape. It’s more than getting in shape for me, it’s figuring out how to fit in training with two toddlers in the picture. Good thing the Y is open 5:30 am to 10 p.m. Gulp

And so, let the training begin. (And just for the record, I wrote this while eating a triple chocolate decadence brownie as a last hurrah!)

The day he won husband of the year award

(Also known as the hottest day of my life. Ever.)

Two years ago my Very Social Friend asked me to teach her how to sew. I was delighted to pass along my love of creating with fabric, and we began her lessons with a few pairs of shorts. Then she moved away. Then she moved back and got a sewing machine for her birthday last fall. We try to get together once a month to hone our skills. During one of those gatherings not long ago, she mentioned there was going to be a craft show at the coffee shop she worked at. She asked me if I’d be interested in having a table at the show with her. Since I’m trying all kinds of new things this year, and already had a stack of baby blankets and bibs made, I agreed. While we were at the coffee shop show, a lady came around from the church we attend and invited us to have a table at their craft show Memorial Day weekend. We thought about it for a second, and since we were having such a good time, we signed up.

Little did we know that Saturday would be the hottest, most humid day ever. You would think since we live in Florida we would have expected that for the end of May. But no, that Saturday was BAD. Really BAD. We were setting up our tables at 8:30 a.m. and we were already dripping with sweat, wishing we had worn cooler clothes and that the canopy we had borrowed from her cousin would have worked on the cement.

The Narrator showed up with the kids just about then to see if we needed anything before he took the kids to a birthday party. We asked him to please take a look at the directions for the canopy to see if maybe we had misunderstood them, hoping for a miracle so we wouldn’t end up as poached eggs on the sidewalk. He looked the instructions over and gave us a sad look. “So sorry, but it’s not going to work.”

We put on our smiles, determined to make the best of it. We do know how to have a good time, even if it’s while fighting over a battery operated fan in 95 degree heat with 100% humidity! We sent The Narrator and kids on their way and then slathered on the sunscreen. About thirty minutes later, Very Social Friend says, “Hey, aren’t those your kids?”

I looked up to see Little Miss Sunshine and T-Rex running across the courtyard toward us. Not far behind them was The Narrator – with a case of bottled water in one hand and a quick shade green canopy in the other hand. Very Social Friend and I started to squeal like little girls. In about ten minutes we had shade, glorious shade!! We gave him hugs and kisses (I did the kissing, that is) and then sent him off to the birthday party.

That is the day he won husband of the year award and saved me and Very Social Friend from heat exhaustion. And since we now own a fun, quick set-up canopy, we put it up in the drive way on Memorial Day just so we could have a picnic with the kids under it. Just for fun!

I won!!

Gasp!! Can you hear me shrieking?? I got an email first thing this morning from Scribbit saying that my story Competition in the Closet won this months’ write away contest. Thank you so much to the judge at Ice Cream Diaries who chose my post as the winner, to Scribbit for hosting the monthly contest, and to Payless ShoeSource for the $50 gift certificate and a pair of their new friendship shoes!!

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to those visiting from Scribbit’s link. I am blogging anonymously as Story Girl from hot, sticky Florida. I’m a stay-at-home mom to a three-year-old girl (Little Miss Sunshine) and a year and a half old boy (T-Rex) and have been married to The Narrator for eleven years. We live 1200 miles from the rest of our family, having moved to Florida from the North five years ago. I’m a seamstress and scrapbooker, God-follower, and story lover. I have a brief intro under My Story. To get a feel for who I am, you can also check out these stories:

The Littlelest Client
Thanks for the New Tires
Credit Card Girl
Things that Go Bump in the NIght part 1 and part 2
The Lonely Fish

And now, seriously, I am off to Payless to see if they have any tap shoes, which is another story forthcoming!

Spring cleaning gone awry

There have been so many bloggers talking about spring cleaning this past month, and all the chatter has really given me the urge to clean and purge. But with two toddlers in tow, I quickly realized my visions of a clean AND organized house just weren’t going to happen. Instead, I have settled for accomplishing one small thing a day – like cleaning out a bookcase or a closet while they are napping. It took me a few weeks, but I finally made it through the kids rooms which was no small task considering they both needed to move up to the next size of clothes.

Saturday, while they were helping The Narrator in the yard, I decided to tackle our bathroom. I’ve hated our bathroom since the day we moved in. We remodeled the other bathroom, but since we are the only two who ever see our bathroom, it fell to the bottom of the list. I know, that goes against all the marriage book advice. At any rate, we have this tile shower that I loathe. Even after scrubbing it, it just feels dirty. Saturday, I was scrubbing and scrubbing the bathroom when, oops, a tile smooshed into an apparently soft spot in the shower wall. There now is a hole in our shower.

I headed outside and said to The Narrator, “So how do you feel about remodeling our bathroom?” He looked up and said, “What did you do??” I smirked and said, “You know it was inevitable, it was going to happen sooner or later.” I saw him shake his head and begin to mentally crunch the numbers of how much this was going to cost. It’s not the first time. No, about 2 and a half years ago, around Christmas time, he was cleaning the other bathroom when he pushed one of its tiles into the wall. Thus began that remodeling project. So, we know exactly what we have to do, unfortunately! So much for the benefits of spring cleaning!

I moved all our shower stuff into the other bathroom. It’s going to be a month or two before we get to our bathroom. It has to get in line behind finishing the front yard and re-painting the house. That ball is already rolling and needs to come to completion. It’s going to be interesting when the in-laws are here for two weeks and we have six people sharing a bathroom. It will feel just like old times for some of us! Funny thing, though – I took a shower in the other bathroom Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t believe how happy I was in that nice, bright, clean bathroom. I didn’t realize how much I hated ours until using the other one!! The Narrator said the same thing!

On the plus side though – while cleaning our dressers, we found some Motorola walkie talkies that we forgot we had. We put new batteries in them and had a riot tonight with the boys in one room and the girls in another. Smooshed shower — walkie talkies. Win some, lose some!! Happy spring!!