It is close now. The BIG 3-0. And as we enter into this month of my birth, I am feeling introspective. You know, thinking back over my life and wondering what I’ve really done. I mean, I have all kinds of memories of things that I know I physically did, but I don’t neccesarily know WHAT I’ve done that has affected others and HOW. If I dissappeared tomorrow, what will others remember about me? Have I done enough good? Have I left lingering hurt on anyone that I could make ammends for? Have I left an impression at all? Do I mean more to anyone than what I physically do? Am I making any sense? What I’m looking for here is feedback. If you have a special memory involving me, feelings toward me, if I have touched your life at all, would you please post a comment here? I may begin work soon on an autobiography, but I’m never sure what sorts of things to include about my life. I wonder, what about me has been important to you? And what might you be iterested in learning more about my life or do you think I should include for posterity? Basically I am shamelessly begging you to post a comment about me. I’m hoping to get more comments on this post than I’ve ever received before! Validate my presence in your lives. (Please?)
Archive for April, 2007
But not for long! (I hope!) This weekend Josh and I did something we haven’t really done before. After obtaining a couple estimates from some lawn care professionals we decided (what we already knew to be true) that we do not have money in the budget to have our lawn taken care of like ALL the rest of the neighborhood. But we knew we HAD to do something, because our lawn is CLEARLY the eyesore on the street. Before we moved in here I clearly remember my mom and sister offering all kinds of yard and landscaping help, none of which has come to fruition. So, after two years here doing next to nothing it is time to put the smackdown on our unruly lawn. Now, don’t get me completely wrong, Josh has always done a good job of keeping the yard mowed and the kids pick up sticks and rocks and stuff for pennies, but our property is covered in a thick layer of thatch so it looks brown instead of green, it feels stiff and crunchy, and it’s covered in dandelions. Last year Josh planted some tulips to try to help it look pretty, and they did, but now they are passing their time and we’ve got nothing else growing in. I have never really been one for yard work, gardening, or being outside in general. Saturday, however, Josh and I went to Home Depot and picked up materials to de-thatch, aerate, re-seed, de-weed, and fertilize our yard! We looked at a couple plants and trees too, but decided we better start with the grass and then we can move on providing we stick to it. So while the kids were with Jason and Elise we spent hours OUTSIDE! Josh mowed and dethatched the entire front lawn and South side. I aerated the entire front lawn and South side and got ice water for us to drink :). Later that evening after we picked up the kids Josh grilled some pork loin chops and while they were cooking he sprayed the entire backyard with weed killer. Yesterday Josh’s nearby family came over in the evening and we had a potluck followed by a rousing game of kickball. I wish I’d taken some pictures or video. (Dad, I’m gonna want my camera back when we come for Mother’s Day.) Our plan is to seed over the front lawn today when Josh gets home and add some rich topsoil and water everything, and I may try to get the North side of the house aerated. Once that is done we have to wait two-three weeks before we can do more. During that time we may be looking at some plants. I’m hoping to get some good-sized lilacs for the South side of the house, perhaps a fruit tree or two, two hanging plants, and Josh wants a vegetable garden. Mostly though, I just don’t want to have the obviously ugly lawn in the neighborhood.
Today is the 2nd birthday of the only person (So Far!) responsible for making me an Aunt! And although I don’t know if she really recognizes me for sure, she sure does love her Uncle Josh!
I am so over this rain. The first night it was fine, I can handle a little rain–it can be fun and romantic if you’re in the right frame of mind. But now on the fourth day of nearly non-stop rain, I am bored with it. It’s cold. I can’t let the kids out to play. I get wet running errands. My hair is one big fuzzball. My backyard is forming a small lake. Jacob’s class was supposed to go to the zoo today but …yep. You guessed it. The field trip was cancelled due to the rain. So, here is a picture from the last time we went to the zoo.
This weekend the Wheelers came over, which in itself was fantABBAulous, but the reason for their visit was that Josh and Chris had gotten Kate and I tickets to see the musical Mama Mia! Friday night we got to play some cards and then Saturday the guys took all the kids to the Science Center so Kate and I had some time to ourselves to scrapbook and get ready for our big night out. Then, in what seemed like no time, it was time to go! Kate and I had dinner in downtown Des Moines. I thought getting there at 5 was plenty early considering the show didn’t start until 7:30, but apparently there were several other things going on dowtown Saturday night, so even at 5 we had to wait 40 minutes just to get a table. Once we were seated we hoped things would go much faster. We already knew exactly what we wanted to order, and it was nothing fancy, just Pepsi and cheeseburgers. Our waiter was nice enough, but the service was incredibly slow. Our food didn’t arrive until 6:50, and we still had to eat it, pay, and walk two blocks to the Civic Center. I had been hoping for a rich dessert to add to the evening’s “something special,” but there ended up being no time, so I was kinda bummed about that. On the upside, my check had stuff on it that shouldn’t have been and so I brought it to our waiter’s attention and after several moments he returned and said that he didn’t actually know how to get the items off my bill and since he knew we were in a hurry to get to the show (which we had never actually told him, but it was 6:20 at this point, so we were perhaps a little anxious.) he said my meal would be on the house–taken care of. What luck! So I left a good tip and gave Kate a couple dollars cause I felt bad that she still had to pay and then we were off! Our seats were in the ABBAsolutely last row all the way at the top. At first we were starting to feel a little stressed, being almost late, and having to walk in front of several people to get to our seats, and it was very warm inside! But once the show started we had plenty to giggle about and our moods quickly lifted. Of course the music was fun, it was ABBA, and they played it into the story pretty well. I think both Kate and I went into it not knowing anything about the storyline. I was amazed that when I looked around I didn’t see anybody else dancing around in their seats. The only people that seemed to be moving around were obviously there as part of a bachelorette party. Anyway, it was quite an experience. Here’s a shot of Kate and I all dolled up before the show (the picture of us being normal came out blurry, we shot several goofy shots, and this was the most normal that turned out!):
Yes, I have been struck down with strep throat. It has kept me more or less in bed since Friday night. I had a late dinner Friday then Josh and I watched some tv, my throat started to bother me, but it felt more like something was caught in it causing irritation and since I am the queen of getting things caught in my throat, I tried washing it down but when it staretd feeling actually painful I went to bed. I couldn’t sleep. Every time I had to swallow I would wince with pain. During the few fleeting moments of sleep that I did manage to get I had a dream that I was carrying around a bottle of chloraseptic spray and constantly spraying it into my mouth which would then feel numb for a fraction of a second and then hurt again so I kept spraying. At 5 am I couldn’t take it anymore so Josh called the First Nurse hotline and she recommended that we go to the emergency room just in case… So Josh’s sister Jenny came over at about 5:30 am to stay with the kids and Josh took me to the emergency room in Des Moines. Long story short–too late, they swabbed and tested and treated me for strep. It wasn’t until we were almost home that it really hit me with the fever and the body aches and exhaustion. It really knocked me out. On Sunday, I was only able to stay awake in half hour increments. Yesterday was better, I was up a couple hours between naps. Today so far I have not napped, but I do feel slightly woozy–will probably nap soon. I did get to watch some great History channel shows. Wow, ok, losing lucidity. Will post more later.
Ok, that probably doesn’t mean much to most of you, but what you may not understand is that I haven’t read a book in almost three years. And before that one it had been almost two years (and those two were for a college course I was taking). I plan to read another one fairly soon. See, I used to be an avid reader, but by the time I was in college I didn’t really have the time to read. At least, not the way I read. When I read I get absorbed into the story and I cannot put the book down, I have to finish it. Usually I can do it in a few hours, but during those hours I am oblivious to the world around me and when I am finally finished I am wiped out and can’t read again for a while. Now, that “while” used to be about a month, but obviously in recent years its been a lot longer. I just couldn’t shut myself away while I was home in charge of small children. So, last year sometime on a sunny day when the kids wanted to ride bikes outside I pulled a book that I hadn’t read before out of a box in the garage and sat out on the front steps “supervising” the kids and started to read. I got about two chapters in before Josh came home. Then the book got put aside and eventually forgotten. Then about a week or two ago when I was cleaning our room I found the book and was trying to figure out where to put it when I decided just to leave it out and finish reading it. I didn’t start it over, just picked up more or less where I’d left off and tried to keep up. I also made myself only read it when the kids were asleep, or at least when Elena was asleep and Cameron was watching the Backyardigans! It took about two weeks that way, but I finished it the other night! And, I am not nearly as burnt out on reading as I used to feel. So, I will rest a few days and then pick out a new book and try it again. This time I may put slightly more thought into choosing the book than just blindly reaching into a box. Although, we still have that box full of books so I’ll probably just read another one of those, but I do think my taste in what I want to read has changed slightly since high school which is when I acquired most of my books.
Well, I assume it was an accident. I don’t think Josh meant to start the kitchen on fire and set off all the smoke alarms at 7:00 this morning! On the up side of that, I am no longer afraid that I may ever sleep through the smoke alarms going off. Apparently it all started with a skillet of eggs for the kids’ breakfast. I still don’t know all the details. What I do know is that we are all definately awake, and maybe some of our neighbors too! At least we’re safe and nothing was damaged.
I wanted everyone to know that on Monday Morning I was rear ended on the way to work. I am ok and I now know how to fill out paperwork for a vechicle accident in a Weitz Company Vehicle.
Happy Easter one and all! I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. Generally speaking, I’d say ours was pretty good. Sure, we had some spoiled produce, and some vomitting children, freezing wind during our egg hunt, and headaches all day today, but we were able to spend time with lots of friends and family. I personally made two scrapbook pages, convinced Kate to add a little Real McCoy to our scrapping music list, kicked some bootay at cards, saw some Muscatine friends at church, and got (I hope) some cute pictures. The children were, of course, well coordinated and I thought they all looked very sweet today. BTW, anyone with cute pictures of my family is more than welcome to send me copies that I may scrap! So, on our way home this evening we had to stop for a bathroom and for gas; the kids were complaining about being hungry and very thirsty. We talked about stopping in Amana, but eventually ruled that out. As we got closer to home though we did stop at an Outback Steakhouse for a slightly overdue dinner. Josh and I commented that it was definately a first for either of us to go out to eat on Easter. Once we were seated I noticed the woman across from us kind of watching us with the kids, but I was quickly distracted by the kids and the pressing need to place our order. Elena had seemed a bit fussy at first, but then she was just adorable little miss manners saying please and thank you for everything. I noticed again the woman across from us smiling at Elena and I realized that she was eating alone. For a fraction of a second the thought crossed my mind that perhaps we should ask her to join us, but I didn’t know her and she was already well into her meal and we had just ordered and had our salads, and of course my attention was immediately back on the kids. All in all I would say the children were very well behaved and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening together at the table which, sadly, rarely happens at home (mostly probably my fault). I didn’t notice when the woman left. Elena choked herself with a cucumber and threw up on Josh, Cameron kept stealing the bacon from Josh’s burger so I kept giving Josh mine then Cameron rested in Josh’s lap, Elise’s milk spilled, Jacob wanted help spelling the word penguin…Good Times. Anyway, when we’d more or less finished with the meal we asked our waiter for some boxes and the check and when he brought the boxes he knelt down beside me and said “Actually, your bill has been entirely taken care of, so you folks are good to go.” Josh and I immediately responded with a chorus of “what do you mean” and “huh?” The waiter explained again that someone had already paid our bill and that we owed nothing. Josh and I both just kind of looked around the room incredulously and I asked “can you tell us who?” The waiter replied “actually, it was the woman sitting here across from you, she said you looked like a nice family and she wanted to do something for you, and she’s already left, so…Happy Easter.” In that moment I felt a stirring of emotions: joy, that someone had done us a kind deed, relief, that we would be spared the bill for this large expensive meal, guilt, that I had noticed this woman but not really taken notice of her–that I’d said and done nothing for her and she obviously spent a lot of money on my family, and honored that I was given a chance to explain to our kids with an immediate and meaningful example the importance and impact of generosity and kindness towards others–even people you don’t know. And since we were unable to thank this woman in person I would like to write our thanks here and put it out there for everyone. Thank you for your random acts of kindness and generosity. They are noticed and appreciated. I look forward to the next chance that I have to do a good turn for someone else.