August 1, 2013

  • my answers to SaintVi’s survey

    What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Straight up chocolate

    Have you ever kissed anyone named Matthew? I don’t think so.

    Where was your profile picture taken? My office

    Can you play guitar hero? I think I did one time.

    Name someone that made you laugh today? The shelter’s accounting ladies. They are hilarious.

    How late did you stay up last night and why? Until 1:30 AM. Because I had a terrible headache and it was SO hot.

    If you could move somewhere else, would you? Sure. Tahiti. I’d live in one of those huts with the glass floor to watch the fish and I’d be tan and swim all day and stuff.

    Ever been kissed under fireworks?  Probably not, I’d be like, hey, we can kiss anytime but we’ll only see this thing detonate once!

    Which of your friends lives closest to you? Xanga friends? I’m not really sure.

    Do you believe ex’s can be friends? Yes.

    How do you feel about Dr Pepper? I like it.

    When was the last time you cried really hard? Last week.

    Where are you right now? my desk.

    What bed did you sleep in last night? Isaac’s bottom bunk.

    What was the last thing someone bought for you for dinner? My in-laws bought Chicken Express for Sunday Dinner last week.

    Who took your profile picture? Me I think

    Who was the last person you took a picture of? Oliver

    Was yesterday better than today? I’ll let you know tomorrow.

    Can you live a day without TV? I could, and have many times.

    Are you mad about anything? I could get there if I tried.

    Are you upset about anything? I have a finance meeting this afternoon. I find math upsetting. If you put those together . . .

    Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? They’re probably the only things actually worth anything.

    Are you a bad influence? I can be. Or I can be a good influence depending on the topic or vice.

    Night out or night in? Mostly night in, but I like an occasional night out too.

    What items could you not go without during the day? Is oxygen an item?

    Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? a client.

    What does the last text message in your inbox say? “on the schedule for tomorrow”

    How do you feel about your life right now? I’m alive, and that really is a blessing.

    Do you hate anyone? Probably not.

    If we were to look in your xanga inbox, what would we find? Random stuff.

    Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Not something I get accused of.

    What song is stuck in your head? Well I’m listening to Passenger on my iphone does that count?

    Someone knocks on your window at 2am, who do you want it to be? I don’t want anyone to knock on my window at 2 am. That’d scare the you know what out of me.

    Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? only if my kids are ready to have kids by then. Alex will be 29. Oliver will be 19 so all the kids will be adults and it’s entirely possible. I don’t really have expectations though on what the boys will do with their lives. I’d much rather wait and see what they want to be doing.

    Name something you have to do tomorrow? work.

    Do you think too much or too little? Depends on the day/time/weather/mood/position of the sun/how much laundry is nearby

    Do you smile a lot? Yes.

    Who was your last missed call on your Mobile phone? an unknown number

    Is there something you always wear? my wedding ring. And deoderant.

    What were you doing 30 minutes ago? a finance report

    Did you have an exciting last weekend? We had my MIL’s bday party. Today is her 71st Birthday, by the way. I <3 her.

    Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes. I don’t really remember why.

    Have you ever dyed your hair?  Yes.

    Are you wearing a necklace? No. which is funny because I usually am.

    Are you an emotional person?  I can be.

    What’s something that can always make you feel better? music. chocolate. Ice cream. Gary Allan.

    Will this weekend be a good one? I hope so.

    What do you want right now? For my finance meeting to be over already.

    Have you ever worn the opposite sex’s clothing? Yeah. When I was a kid, my mom used to buy boys clothes for me and my older sister because they were cheaper than girls clothes.

    Have you ever worked in a food place? I worked at grocery stores, gas stations, gas stations that sold handmade sandwiches, that I made, and an Italian eatery called Fazoli’s.

    What’s on your schedule for tomorrow? It’s starting to feel stalkery.

    Does anyone know your xanga password? I don’t think anyone I know could possibly even care about my xanga password let alone know it. ha.

    Here you go, @SaintVi

  • Back to School

    In just over 2 short weeks, 4 of my 5 boys will be back to school. I’ve compiled one main shopping list from the published school supply lists for each of their grades and schools. So, how much do you think this is gonna cost?

    2 boxes colored pencils
    2 pencil pouches
    6 boxes #2 pencils
    2 packages cap erasers
    1 package each red, blue, and black ink pens
    22 glue sticks
    1 large zipped binder with carrying strap
    1- 1 & 1/2 inch clear view binder
    5 packages wide ruled paper
    1 package 3×5 note cards
    1 package subject dividers
    2 packages subject dividers with pockets
    2 flash drives
    2 plastic 12 inch rulers
    5 boxes 24 count crayons
    ear buds
    1 protractor
    1 four function calculator
    2- 5×8 school boxes
    3 pairs scissors, Fiskars, 5″ sharp
    1 package sticky notes 1 7/8″ x 1 7/8″
    3 spiral notebooks
    1 pocket folder no brads
    4 bottles hand sanitizer
    4 containers Clorox wipes
    1-8 count washable markers
    1-8 count PRANG watercolors (no Crazy Art brand)
    1 rest mat, 5/8″
    2 EXPO dry erase markers
    2 bottles liquid handsoap
    4 large boxes facial tissue
    1-100 count facial tissue
    1 package 9 oz clear plastic cups
    and last but not least
    1 box Ziplock quart size storage bags

  • Random Post, Because I Still Can!

    I wore my new Xanga shirt today In celebration. I’m so glad we’re still here!!

    I can’t sleep right now. My sister is here for the week and she and her kids have our bedroom. Steven’s got the couch and I’m in the boys room. 1) I have a headache. A bad one. 2) it’s dadgum hot in here. Our a/c is STILL out (2 months!) and the 3 window units we have don’t reach these rooms well. 3) this bed is not comfy to me. 4) the light from the living room is so bright and the tv sounds so loud in here from there. The light/sound problems could be from the headache. I don’t know how my kids sleep in here.
    I’m grumpy and tired.
    We had the best pork chops this week. My marinade was just soy sauce, fresh garlic and green onions with a small splash of sesame oil.
    I got to see my 19 year old nephew Donovan this week. What a goofball he is! He’s learning how to be a tattoo artist right now.
    The kids have been taking TaeKwonDo. All of them.

July 24, 2013

  • What Does it Look like? 15 years of big and small Stuff

    July 25th is our anniversary. Our 15th anniversary.  Let me just say, that I’m most certainly too young to have been married for 15 years.

    I mean, there’s no way we’ve had a combined total of 15 jobs.

    6 vehicles

    3 church homes

    2 job layoffs

    the birth of 5 sons

    11 cell phones

    5 addresses

    one town

    3 desktop computers, 2 laptops

    Countless memories

    “We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.”
    ―Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    Here’s to the next 15 years.
    (hopefully we’ll be less hard on electronics)

July 21, 2013

July 12, 2013

  • Stuff that Happened This week, Random post #697

    I stayed home from work and took my vacation time. I like to call it my “staycation”. 

     

    Steven went to a conference with some youth from our church in Indiana. They come home tomorrow. While he was gone, he got laid off from his job, with 499 other people. 

     

    We marked the one month anniversary of having no air conditioner. The person we rent from is super apologetic about it not being done yet, and insists they’re just waiting on a part. But really? A month? Thank goodness two friends have loaned us window units. It’s hot here. And humid.

     

    While leaving the park yesterday, that was near a ball field, I got hit by a flying softball! It didn’t really hurt me or anything but still, what are the chances??

     

    We had this sudden little storm pop up out of nowhere with lightning and thunder. The lightning caused a power surge and we lost power for like 30 seconds or something. Apparently the surge damaged my coffee pot, and it caught fire inside! It was like, 4 months old! 

     

    Yesterday Isaac (age 5) asked me who Steven’s parents were. I said, Mema and Pa! You know them! He said, “Well, duh, I know them, but I didn’t know they were his PARENTS!”

     

    While leaving Great Clips today, I told Isaac and Oliver, “Thanks for being so good in there, guys!” and Isaac replied, “It was our pleasure!”

     

    I sent the following text to my sister: I’ve always secretly wanted to be called Baby, but that only happens when I sit in a corner somewhere and Steven quotes Dirty Dancing.

     

    Our neighbors are the parents of a classmate of Elijah’s. Our kids have gone over there to play, and theirs have come over to play at our house. The Mom worked with Steven until the layoff, and is in fact how I found out about the layoff when she came over and we talked about it for like 20 minutes the other day. The Dad’s name is Justin. I don’t know, after all this time what their last name is. In my phone, he’s listed as “Justin-Neighbor”. And I texted him with a layoff question for his wife and he gave me her number. I don’t even know her first name. She’s now in my phone as “Neighbor’s Wife”.  I have a problem with names.

     

    Alex has become a talker. Seriously, he talks from the time he gets up until he goes to bed. If he’s not otherwise occupied, he follows me around the house talking nonstop. I have to tell him sometimes that I need to go to the bathroom and go in there to be alone for a second. I love that he wants to talk to me, I really do. But I’m not kidding when I say it’s constant. 

     

    I’ve done four things for work during this vacation so far.  (Downside of a staycation)

     

    I took Alex to a late movie, while a friend babysat my other sleeping kiddos. We saw World War Z, his first zombie flick. 

     

    Last weekend we watched Moneyball from the Redbox at Kroger.

     

    Brad Pitt is way more attractive to me now that he’s aged a little bit, what’s up with that?

     

    While at Chick-fil-a earlier this week, Alex was sitting and talking with me since he’s too big to go in the play place. (and we’ve already established the talking thing) He left to go to the bathroom and a woman in the play place asked me if we were from England. I almost laughed out loud. Alex has a certain way of talking, he always has and for the last few years, he’s been telling me that kids at school are always asking where he’s from and if he’s from England. It’s the first time it’s happened when I was around to see it. 

     

    We’re not from England. We’re native Arkansans. 

July 4, 2013

  • July the 4th, 1995

    Jefferson Lines is what it said on the side of the bus in huge letters. It was the name of the charter line that carried my 240 + member high school band to Washington D.C.  It was a pilgrimage made every 3 years by our high school, a time honored tradition. A 27 hour bus ride, one way.  We worked hard for an entire year leading up to that summer break. Excellence was what we strived for, and it was what we were known for. It was what landed us the honored position, a spot that was held for our band, every three years, the lead band in the Independence Day Parade in D.C. 

    I have so many wonderful memories of that trip, so many moments that stand out in my mind. I’d always loved the fourth of July, the fireworks, the family gatherings, the national pride, but it was different for me after that trip. Spending our nation’s Birthday in the Capitol, well, it changes a person. 

    It wasn’t the whirlwind trip through the Smithsonian, or standing in awe at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial that stood out to me, although I remember those things very well. It wasn’t that we got to sit on the White House lawn and watch a fireworks show, completely in sync with the National Symphony Orchestra playing live right there with us, that blew our little Arkansan minds. 

    It was playing a concert for retired Veterans on the lawn of their facility. It  was watching the ones that couldn’t come down to sit on the grass, be wheeled to their balcony windows by nurses to hear us play patriotic tunes. It was seeing hands over hearts, and salutes as sharp as they were 40 years before, respect and duty just as vibrant as it was 40 years before. 

    It was standing, in our band uniforms because we didn’t have time to go back to the hotel and change, at the very corner of the Vietnam Memorial. Each of us, teenagers, overwhelmed at the sense of loss, and the sense of pride. We stood together, side by side, the reflection of our uniforms staring back at us in the glossy stone and  we laid a wreath from us to them. Not missing a single note, flower, beer bottle or joint left at the wall for an old comrade who didn’t make it back by someone who had loved and enjoyed those things with them many years before. 

    I’ll never forget as we prepared for the parade, lined up, ready to march. The full band was behind me, the flag line behind them. The only thing in front of us was the majorettes, perfectly poised to begin. Our rifles came out of parade rest and we were at attention. The drum beats counted us off and we lined up. We made the turn from the prep area onto Constitution Avenue and marched right underneath a huge United States Flag. There were people, lots of people, but I really didn’t notice them. The rifle line position is head up, not straight ahead, slightly up, looking right into the sun, proud, slightly defiant. Our rifles snapped in unison to the routine. Occasionally the view was obstructed from a toss in the routine, but it didn’t distract us. We knew they’d fall right back into our hands, and pop against our gloves without a wobble. It was what we had worked towards for over a year, for some of us much longer than that. 

    It was an honor to be there, to represent our state and our town, and to experience Independence Day in the place they do it the biggest. It was more than a band trip, or vacation, or another performance. It was something that changed us, for the better.