Is this war?

Yesterday we were at the mall, just looking around while our Japanese student did some shopping. We went into Toys R Us to get some birthday gift ideas for Tesla's upcoming birthday. For 1/2 hr, I pointed to things and shared my ideas. Finally I said "I'm not getting much feedback from you"

Nothing.

I said again "I'm not getting a lot of feedback. What do you think?"

Karl - "I don't want to get anything with a lot of pieces that have to be picked up"

Me - "Because you pick up a lot of toys?"

Karl (sheepishly) - "I do it all the time..." If you know my husband you know he used the same tone as he uses when he tells me he owns a stealth bomber, which is parked behind his mom's barn.

Me - "Well why don't we buy our own gifts for her this year"

Karl - "Ok"

So this morning...

Me - "Karl, I don't want this to be a contest on who can get Tesla the best birthday gift."

Karl - "It's not. I already know what you are getting her. You told me yesterday."

Exactly!

Toilet pictures

So my brother told me that 50% of my blog pictures are of my daughter playing in the toilet. I went back and checked... It's true! I'm left speechless as I contemplate what other pictures I can post to change this slightly weird statistic. I may have to take a plethora of useless pictures to rectify the situation.

My girlfriend just had her third baby this week. 6-7 hours of labor. 1 push. They recently sent me an email filled with pictures of their beautiful family. If I had her permission I would post the one of the mother and baby... The one where the mother looks great! I would never post the picture of me after 27 hours of induced labour, no pushing, c-section, extra drugs and water retention, taken 3 days later. I asked them to leave the cameras at home. I also asked them not to come to the delivery room but that's another story. I may have to consider hiring her as a surrogate, although she tells me she is done.

Congraduations guys we're very happy for you and your family!

We are currently hosting our third Japanese exchange student. (Note: the photo statistics have now changed. 40% of the pictures are toilet pictures) It is common for them to come baring gifts. Doesn't Tesla look beautiful, and proud in her new Yukata?

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do with our student. Karl is working nights and Tesla goes to bed at 7 which makes us homebound in the evenings. She likes sports. Not drawing. Not reading. Not games. Maybe movies. I'll have to keep thinking. Hopefully the answers come faster then my new blog name. I'm still thinking about that one too.

My quest for youth

It happened again... I got sucked into another person's blog. A complete stranger. This time it was written from a "baby boomer" who was re-entering the dating scene. Too bad she's too old for the guy who is writing his blog about how his future wife is going to fall out of the sky (or something) since he is purposefully not meeting people. (See previous blog if you are confused)

So earlier this year I decided I had to do something to keep my youth. Call it a mini-midlife crisis if you will. Some might dye their hair, go back to school, get contacts or shave off their mustache. Wait that was my Dad's midlife crisis, back in Sept of 1989.

So I decided I needed to MSN. My students have been talking about it for years. The thing is I was curious about it and completely at a loss as to how to do it. This is where the keeping my youth comes in. I had this great uncle who started golfing in his mid-seventies. He was using email when he turned 80. He was young because he embraced life and continued to learn new things. MSN was not going to intimidate me because I am young! So I asked my brother. He helped me set it up and I was off to the races. I emailed all my friends "Hey guess what I'm on MSN now..."

One of my nearest and dearest friends told me flat out "No, I am not MSNing." She calls the computer the other women since her husband works on it so much. I let her off the hook.

One of my other nearest and dearest friends did MSN. We tried it out one night. After we had exhausted all of the fancy buttons... you know the ones that shake the screen or blow up, she phoned me; said it was too slow typing and easier to talk.

I spent a week checking continuously to see who was on line... waiting for them to initiate a conversation. I could see they were on line. Why weren't they writing me? Finally I decided to make first contact and I got a response... It was my brother who lives with us. He walked into our office and told me "MSNing someone who is within shouting distance is pathetic" There you have it my quest for youth... pathetic.

Meanest Mommy

I am sure Tesla thought I was the meanest mommy ever. Yesterday I was cleaning the bathroom but from her perspective I was doing all the fun things she like to do... with out her help. To her it looked like I was "washing my hands in bubbles in the sink." Then I made a bath with bubbles that she wasn't allowed to take even after she had stripped off her clothes and started to climb in. Finally, I used the thing she is not allowed to play with and dipped in and around the toilet. She even said nicely "Tesla help mommy do it." She is not allowed to play with the toilet brush but for some reason her mommy is? What a cruel joke!

My Little Buttercup

This was taken yesterday as we enjoyed the crystal blue water in our kiddy pool and the wildlife mosquitoes which eventually drove up indoors.

On a different note... The bar has been set. If you get a chance visit redneckmommy.blogspot.com
This women is hilarious, witty and oh so sarcastic. In comparision, I have a standardized template combined with a lack of personality. Even now I struggle to think of something fun and witty and realize I have fallen short. I'll have to think about it for a while. Who knows maybe a better blog name will come to me in the process.

It's an addiction

I can't get enough. Yesterday I started reading other peoples blogs. It started innocently enough and now I can't stay away.

Three blogs stand out in my mind. The first two were blogs that were recently updated. One was a prayer journal from a women in Colorado who started each blog with "Dear God..." I thought it was a good idea but didn't stay very long. Next I visited a site of a very desperate man who is looking for a wife without actually looking. His whole blog is dedicated to his search for a wife but states that he isn't going to date or actually try to meet someone. I think he is hoping a nice girl will come across his blog and the rest will be history. I could write a whole new blog about this guy and what I think of his wife finding strategy.

The last blog I visited came by chance. It is actually a set of blogs by the same women. I was searching blogs trying to find out how easy it was to find mine and came across the first of the two. It was about being a hockey widow and becoming a hockey wife. Interesting. I checked out her top 100 things about her and came across her second blog. This blog was about the tragic loss of her youngest child and the grief she is feeling. I shed so many tears as I read it. She is so open and honest with her feelings. I hesitate to be so open. Yet her words and thought expressed in her blog are obliviously part of her healing. I read everything. Her entries and the comments that people have shared. What a beautiful tribute to her son and the love she has for him.

Just another day

Things I covet...
1. Trips to hot places
2. My brothers blog name

I created this blog on a whim and sadly realize that I have a very unoriginal blog name. It is with more sadness I realize that I still can't think of a better one. The irony is that a viewer of my blog created his own blog to comment on mine. It would appear that he didn't even want a blog but has received more viewers than mine. I have attributed this to a more catchy blog name, refusing to admit he might have more interesting things to say.

So I finished work last week. I love teaching and I am out of a job but not worried. In fact I am enjoying my daughter. Today is day 1 of us since work. So far we have driven Daddy to work, vacuumed some of the house, done the dishes, had a play date, and currently one of us is napping. What a great day!

I am concerned about the other two girls who are also not able to return to my last school. It's all in perspective. I have a husband who works hard and pays the bills. I have worked in many different schools and have said good-bye before and I have something to look forward to... At home. If I was the main bread winner of our family and a relatively new teacher I would be worried, no, I would be devastated that I was out of a job. So I worry for those girls.

Those first few years of marriage can be stretching. When we were first married we had it all planned out. We would both work for a few years then have kids etc. I had a good job and Karl had just finished school. Shortly after we were married he started getting migraines. He decided to go back to school. Even though I had a good job it was still tight. (No trips! No kids!) I can't imagine how we would have survived if we had both been in school. Then there are our friends who got pregnant within the first year, even month of marriage. Unplanned. There are the ones who couldn't find jobs right out of school or realized they hate the jobs they trained for. There are countless friends who have been to the fertility clinic. Some finding no success. Life has no guarantees. It is full of surprises. And we survive. We love, we change, we grow. Would my friends trade the job they hate for the daughter they love? Someone has to feed the family. So my advice to someone getting married... Plan until you are blue in the face but plan expecting that life can happen and things may turn out differently then you expect.