I wear that hat too…..

Tags

family, LIfe, parenting, thoughts

It a little over 3 months since I quit working to stay home to do nothing … according to some people. So far nothing has consisted of becoming the resident barber, chef, nursemaid, accountant, housekeeper, full time student, electrician, shopper, plumber, tutor, painter, mentor, taxi service, counselor, seamstress, help to the resident gardener, and when it comes to our budget…magician. I don’t think I have ever been busier or wore some many different hats in my life. I honestly was not quite prepared for what lay before me when I decided to stay home. After a bit of a learning curve and readjustments I think I am actually pretty darn good at this stay at home business now. I have a better understanding of why women fought so hard to be treated equal and get into the workforce with their male counterparts. Hell, they needed a break. I am going from the time my feet hit the floor in the morning til I lay my head down at night..even then my brain is thinking of the next day. I have a new found respect for the age old housewife. I actually have it pretty easy, the age of modern appliances, Internet, cellphone, electricity, modern medicine, grocery stores. Think of the housewife of years past…laundry by hand, butchering, gardening, coal stove, no electricity or running water, forget about taking a sick child to the doctor or running to the store real quick. Life was hard, don’t get me wrong, life was hard for the men also, but we all take that for granted. I am ashamed at society’s view then and now of the stay at home parent. Any man or woman who chooses to stay home and raise their family and tend to the house while their partner works is pulling their weight, believe me. So today I ask you to reevaluate what history has led us to believe, and if your mother or father stayed home, call them now if you can and say thank you…and if you can no longer call them….go ahead and tell them now, they’re listening…..I know, I wear that hat too. ALB

Feed your human spirit….

Tags

human spirit, LIfe, olympics, opinion, team hoyt, thoughts

The Olympics have once again solidified my belief in the human spirit. Its not enough to have the muscle, training, power, and know-how to accomplish such amazing feats. You have to have an incredible human spirit..the will, the drive, the passion…and not just you but your support group also. They must feed your inner fire, dare you to go further, cheer when you achieve your goals, and treat you with dignity when you fall short. I wish the Olympics were every year! There is something amazing about an event that can almost captivate the whole world and bring peace for what seems likes months, in just a matter of 16 days. However, if you look around we can glimpse the human spirit that these athletes have super-sized all around us. You see it in the cancer patient who smiles and celebrates their new found baldness with a magnificent scarf. You see it in the small child who is learning to walk, to run, to ride a bike and never gives up until they are battered and bruised but doing it. You see it in the parent, spouse, or child who loses a loved one and through the grief and pain of their own tragedy picks up the pieces and helps those around them cope.Technology, inventions, modern medicine are all testament to those who refused to give up after multiple failed attempts. Edison once said, “many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close to success they were when they gave up.” It is so easy to just give up or just not try at all. That is why we all need to encourage each other, encourage ourselves, to set goals, and then accomplish those goals, better yet shatter them. No matter what it is, or how insignificant it might seem. Everyone is important, no one is unnecessary in this world. Feed your human spirit, because not only will it see you through, it will nurture the spirit of someone else. There are times I think I have reached my limit, that I have chosen an impossible path or life is handed me too much. I keep something on hand to re-ignite my spirit when this happens. I am going to give this to you, to help fuel your drive, to help keep you humble, to help keep you focused, and to help you push on. After you read this, please go to this site, www.teamhoyt.com watch their story, and bookmark the site, share it, remember it, never say ” I can’t “. ALB

Buckets of fun……

Tags

bucket list, LIfe, opinion, thoughts

For several years of my life I lived for the day….I mean who knows how many you will have left, right? Might as well make the most of it, don’t worry about tomorrow. Boy was I wrong. One day I realized that all I had been doing was wasting my life. I really had nothing to show for the past few years and hadn’t accomplished anything of importance to me. No one is going to live forever and no one knows when their day will come and that is why I should of been doing the complete opposite. I needed to be planning for my future, making the most of my time, not just flying by the seat of my pants. So I made my bucket list. My list has time constraints and I think this is good because it will keep me from putting off things and never doing the things I want to. I don’t want to wake up old, tired, sick, and feeble and not be able to do any of the things I had dreamed about. Time passes so quickly and it will leave you standing in the dust if you don’t get with it. My list is “50 things before I am 50”. I am not going to share the whole thing with you today but I will show you a glimpse of what is on it…. get a degree, be in a parade, see all 50 states, sleep in a wigwam, be a hero, read Shakespeare, cook a gourmet meal, ride in a hot air balloon…. I have completed or started on some of the things on my list already. Since I know most of you have already completed my first challenge and have a library card and almost finished your book for the summer, I have a new challenge for you….make your bucket list. It doesn’t have to be elaborate and you don’t have to share it with anyone if you don’t want to. Some things on my list may seem simple or silly to some people but its my list and these are things I always wanted to do. I have shared my list because there are some things I want to share with others when I do them or they might surprise me and help me to mark some things off my list. I keep the list in my drawer and mark things off as I go, it gives me direction at times, and keeps me focused on my future. Even if I don’t complete the list, at least I can say I had some dreams and goals for my life. More importantly, they weren’t just dreams… I was doing something to make my dreams come true. Daren made a list also and some of our things are similar but most are not. Its kinda cool because now instead of having 50 things on our list we almost have a 100 when we combine them. We have already had fun helping each other scratch some things off their list and make memories while we do it. I am totally not a scrap book person but I think I might start one for our bucket list. I want my children to know….just because I am mom doesn’t mean I was boring, had no life, and didn’t have fun. So before you kick the bucket, fill yours up. You don’t have to list 50 things, you can have 1 very important thing, or 5, 10, be adventurous list 1000…..Now that I think about it, my bucket will probably runneth over because I am sure I will add to it along the way. So start thinking about things you have always wanted to do, even if they are so outlandish and you think you will probably never do them…put them on your list…. and when you get done take a look. Look at who you are, what makes you tick, what drives you, its amazing what kind of things you find out about yourself if you just take the time. Who knows where the list will lead you but I know one thing, you will have buckets of fun just trying to make it happen.ALB

Welcome to Wal-Mart……..

Tags

lazy, LIfe, opinion, thoughts, walmart

So I needed to go to Wal-Mart but first I had to put on my sleeping pants, drag out a pair of nasty flip flops, bleach out my roots, get a ghetto Looney Tune’s tattoo, and squeeze into a tank top that is 3 sizes too small. I mean I don’t want to be over dressed, I might offend the Wal-Martians. Lord knows what might happen if you anger the natives. They might run over me in the parking lot with their new Cadillac SUV or call the police on their Iphone 4S. What I am getting at here is that these people are not the poor and destitute who crawled out from under a bridge to come and buy necessities. Unless the Surgeon General recanted his warning on cigarettes and alcohol, or Mountain Dew is the new cure all wonder drug. Over time I have watched people in the store wearing little to nothing, looking like they haven’t bathed in days, and rarely do they have hygiene products-soap, shampoo, deodorant, clean socks… What they do have is more junk food than a 7-Eleven,video games, liquor, cigarettes, more sleeping pants…and in the parking lot there is a new car with an outlandish sound system waiting for them. Oh and before they leave the store they have to stop at the Redbox with their whole posse and block the exit while they try to figure out what to waste their money on next. It amazes me that people do not care any more about what they look like, its all about what you have… who has the best car, sound system, phone, etc. At what point did people start saying its okay to leave your house looking like you just came off a 3 day drunk or rolled out of a ditch? It’s everyone from the adults down to the snotty nosed-dirty faced-ratty haired-feet black as coal-only wearing a diaper toddlers. I just don’t get it. People have zero self-respect for themselves so why would they respect those of us who have to share the same public space with them. Well here is a newsflash…I am tired of seeing rolls of fat hanging out from under your shirt and the bottom of your shorts as you ride the electric cart, I don’t want to see your crack, your baby’s crack, or your baby’s daddy’s crack. No more gross cleavage tattooed up like a subway tunnel in the Bronx or hair that looks like you took it off a corpse. I don’t want to smell you and the rest of your grungy bunch while I am checking out, stop touching all the produce, stop yelling and cursing in the store like we are at some strange hybrid Nascar/WWF event. I know this is harsh but come on people, enough is enough. Its not like you don’t have the money, I mean the reason your kid has ketchup smeared from his nose to his mullet is because you got 3 McDonald’s bags shoved in the cart next to him. Stop buying useless, unhealthy crap, stop renting unlimited movies and games, buy clothes that fit, wash said clothes, take a bath, use some deodorant…daily, walk instead of ride that stupid electric cart everywhere. If you think about it, what really scares me is that if this is what they look like…what does their home look like, where do their kids lay their heads down at night. In the end its really sad that this is the norm, and that their children will grow up not really knowing any other way. I pray for these people and hope one day they wake up and change their ways….or at least their dirty underwear.ALB

Back in the saddle again….

Tags

lazy, LIfe, thoughts

Holy cow…how easy it is to fall into laziness. You take one day and do nothing and it just snowballs. I can totally see how people wake up one day 400lbs heavier or buried in a sea of trash. The less you do the more it builds and then you don’t even know where to start. I think my husband is right…I am one plastic container and old t-shirt away from being a hoarder. Its kinda scary when you think about it. I took one day to do nothing…no cleaning, laundry, cooking dinner….and here I am a week later. House is a mess, laundry is piled up and I haven’t been doing my blog. It is a ripple effect through your whole life. It stops today. No more sleeping in, laying around…its crazy how much it can actually consume you. I don’t even feel like going to the store, or talking on the phone, hell, I don’t even get dressed most days…..I am officially a bum. I apologize to my family, my readers, and to myself. I am going to keep this post short…you know so I don’t wear myself out…have to ease back into things. More importantly though, my son has a ballgame and I have laid around til the last minute. No more, I am back in the saddle again. See ya bright and early in the morning.ALB

Elijah strikes again…poo part deux

Tags

family, humor, kids, LIfe

Once a week Sara cleans my dad’s apartment so today the twins and I drove her to town. Before we got there my dad called to see if we wanted to go eat lunch…..the unemployed never turn down a free meal. So we ran a few errands and then met him at a local restaurant. Lunch was very tasty, the company was good, and the boys were amazing. Taking the twins in public is always a crap shoot. Some days you get Mr. Hyde and Mr. Hyde which is awesome. Other days you get Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which usually ends up with me in the car waiting for everyone else with the crazy baby. Then there are the days you get Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Jekyll, when this happens we all run for the door, then one of us remembers the babies and we go back and get them. Thankfully those days are getting fewer and fewer. Any way I don’t know if I have mentioned this but the boys are amazing eaters, I haven’t found anything yet they don’t like. They eat in hefty quantities and today was no different. After we finished we all headed for our vehicles so Sara could go clean. Sara grabbed Elijah, her unofficial favorite baby, and I hefted Silas to the parking lot. I was putting Silas in his carseat when across the car I hear, “Mooomaa”, in a tone that I know without looking up means the world has ended. Then comes…”what is this…oh my God, oh my God….no no no….Mooomaa”. I look across the inside of the car to see Sara standing in the parking lot with Elijah clinging to her like a baby chimp, the most horrified look on her face, and her arm outstretched covered in poo from wrist to elbow. Elijah strikes again…poo part deux. Of course I reply with, “huh, he pooped on you,” and continuing buckling Silas in. I am trying to stiffle a laugh but anyone who knows me knows I can’t be serious. This causes her to panic and she starts in with, “Mom really hurry, get over here before I puke.” I figure that she is being a pretty good sport and not really making a scene in the parking lot so I halfway fasten in Silas and shut the door. When I get over to her and get Elijah, it is amazing the damage this child has done. He has a streak from the top of his diaper to his shoulder, it is nas-tee. I hand Sara a baby wipe and she disappears to clean herself up while I set to work getting his clothes off and getting him cleaned up. I have become quite proficient at cleaing up poo in my life..figuratively and literally…and this is a breeze. I carry a tote of extra clothes, plastic bags, garbage bags, diapers and wipes. I set to work like a surgeon and in no time there isn’t a trace of evidence left. I hope Sara takes away a lesson from this that I learned a long time ago. In life people are going to sh*t on you and sometimes they honestly don’t realize what they are doing. Whether they mean to do it or not the best thing to do is just brush it off and go on about your business. Don’t let it ruin your day, life is too short. ALB

Come over to the darkside……

Tags

education, LIfe, opinion, thoughts

Hopefully the third time is the charm. I have tried 2 times already today to post a blog, both times Elijah turned off the computer before I could post it. He is helpful that way. So what I have been trying to say all day is that my husband received his diploma and official transcript for his bachelor degree in the mail this weekend and I am very proud of him. I have a great deal of admiration and a streak of envious jealousy for everyone out there who has successfully continued their education. Especially those who have had to work while they were doing it or made huge sacrifices to accomplish their goal. This is something I am still chipping away at but it is still very important to me. I think everyone should continue their education in some form or fashion. A lot of people may say it is just a piece of paper and you will probably never use it but I disagree. The paper itself may not have much worth but the lessons you learn on the journey to get it are priceless. There is nothing more gratifying than completing a goal that you have set for yourself. You gain a great deal of patience and understand that the small things are what ultimately add up to the big things. You learn to prioritize, organize, multitask and meet deadlines. You may forget the math or the dates in history but you will walk away with so much more. You will tackle things in your life with a different passion and drive, a belief that you can find a way to do just about anything. So do not sell yourself short because you feel you aren’t cut out for school or just don’t have the time. Knowledge will help you unlock so many locked doors, some you never knew existed. So get out there and never stop learning. Finish your GED, get a technical degree, go to a university, take online classes, learn a new hobby. There are so many continuing education opportunities out there that don’t even involve academics. Gardening, automotive repair, sewing, cooking, painting, photography, the list is endless. So to all you geeks like me….keep on learning, its an awesome feeling, and to all you non-geeks….come over to the darkside, we are brighter over here.ALB

Please don’t feed the birds…….

Tags

family, humor, kids, parenting

So I leave you this week with an example of how something can sound like a really great idea but in reality it is a disaster. As I think back on this it was never a good idea, but we just couldn’t see it. Daren and I were driving down the road this week and passed the sign that says “Kentucky Down Under 3 miles”. We have passed this sign hundreds of times over the years and every time it is the same thing. “I have never been there.” “Me either.” “We should go.” “Yep”. Then we keep on driving. This day the one million degree temperature must have fried our brains because we do a u-turn and go back. If you don’t know Kentucky Down Under is a Australian themed nature reserve type park. There are hands on exhibits and a cave tour. We even go as far as to stop at a truck stop for zip ties to repair a piece that has broken on our stroller. So we get there, get the babies in the stroller, and set off into the park with our little map. The first flashing warning sign to turn back should of been the straight up incline for a hundred feet we had to push the stroller. By the time we get to the top we haven’t seen anything but trees, we are both wringing with sweat and about to have a heart attack. The next clue should have been the gravel path around the bird cages we had to try and maneuver the stroller. Yet we trudged on. So we get to the Woolshed which was sold to us as an awesome display of the different sheep in the outback and the way they are worked. Um, not so much. We watched the running of the rams, which was eight sheep slowly walking past with a dog trotting behind them. Yippee! Then at the Woolshed we were told how they built the barn so sheep poop wouldn’t get on the wool as they sheared them. We are not excited yet. We go on to the outback walkabout, which is an area fenced off with an Emu and about 20 kangaroo. They are not in cages or tethered and we are free to walkabout, mate. Just two things, if the emu is standing up stay away from him, and do not touch the kangaroos on the face or ears, other than that they probably don’t mind you petting them. Probably?? So the fact that this is a stupid place to bring two 18month old twins hasn’t hit us yet. They unpadlock the gate and in we go each with a baby in tow. Believe it or not this was pretty cool. We all actually got to pet a kangaroo and none of us were kicked to death or trampled by the emu. We are pretty confident that the babies are loving this even though they are both wrapped around us tighter than a koala on a eucalyptus tree. This is were the day takes a turn for the worse. The next exhibit is a screened in area where you can feed Lorakeets. I have never seen a Lorakeet until today but they are very beautiful birds, each a rainbow of colors and about the size a Bluejay.They give you this little dixiecup of nectar, you go in the cage with the Lorakeets, and they eat out of your hand. Pretty cool. I mean nothing says fun like a flock of birds swarming you for a drink of sugar water. Somehow the stupidity of this still does not register. So we go in the first screened in area, each with a baby on our hip, and before they can open the screen door it is covered in Lorakeets. I mean these things are apparently nectar addicts. They are squawking and flapping their wings and clinging to the door, poo spraying every where. Babies will love this! They fling the door open and in we go. Holy crap, what a stupid, stupid thing to do. The birds are squawking the boys are screaming. Its all I can do to keep Silas off the top of my head. My other arm stretched out covered, and I mean covered in birds clawing and pecking at me. I look over at Daren and Elijah is about to learn to fly. One of these crazy birds has landed on his back and is pulling at his shirt and he is losing it. His face is as red as a fire truck, he is screaming so loud you can’t even really hear him any more, and his arms are going a hundred miles an hour. “Just throw it and run, run for the door” I yell. so we throw down our cups, swat the birds off and make a mad dash for the exit. Note to self, babies and mad ravenous birds do not mix. I hope you all have an awesome weekend, and until Monday remember, Please don’t feed the birds.ALB

Trading my paper plates for fine china……

Tags

family, LIfe, parenting, thoughts

I go to my mamaw’s and look around at the things she has, things you can’t even buy to today in a store, and it all looks like it just came right out of the box. Metal Coleman coolers, Electralux appliances, Tupperware, even toys we had as kids, in fact toys my mother had as a child. You would think they were never used and kept up on shelf. The truth is most of the things are still used by her today, or one of us who come and borrow them. My kids play with toys my mother played with. It’s amazing to me but then the more I think about it the more ashamed I am of myself. My grandparents came from a time when you worked for what you had, you scraped and saved and when you got something it was yours. You cared for it, you cleaned it, if it broke you repaired it. As technology has changed and mass production has increased our pride in our possessions has decreased. I am so guilty of this and have passed this on to my children who are poisoned with a total lack of caring. I am not a total loss. Its kind of hit or miss on what I take care of. My kids though…..I hope I can still salvage the shipwreck I have helped create.On the surface most would think this isn’t a huge issue. I mean just buy another one if it breaks. They make more if you lose it. I hate to admit the hundreds of dollars I have spent to replace their clothes because they left them outside to ruin, cut the sleeves out, wore them out in the woods, left them at friends or in their locker at school. Apparently phones are sold in vending machines because every time I turn around they need a new one. I have seen books, clothes, toys, electronics shoved under beds, thrown in the floor or the closet, food and drink spilled all over them. Who cares? Mom and dad will buy us new ones. And we do. I have created monsters. The problem with this paper plate mentality is much deeper than it seems at first glance. We treat everything like a paper plate, use it and toss it. I don’t have to replace them and honestly to my kids dismay I am going to stop. It is time we all, myself included learn the value of what we have. People however, are not replaceable. The bigger issue here is how we treat our things is usually how we treat others. All of these bad habits and practices spill over into our relationships. The days of 50 and 60 year anniversaries are becoming extinct. I mean why try to fix or repair a relationship if it is broken? Just toss them away and get a new one, right? Leave our friends out in the rain, broken promises, empty commitments, cruel words and name calling. Too many times I have seen my children make plans with one friend only to drop them on a dime when a better offer came along. I have worked with so many young adults with this mentality. They have had more jobs than my whole family combined. Who cares right? No longer do we get career employees. They work with the mindset that jobs are a dime a dozen. They get mad, bored, want the day off, whatever the reason they just up and quit. No regrets, no second thought about it. Well no more for my family. I don’t think it is too late to save my children and myself. Hopefully even some of their friends will catch on and start a revolution. I doubt it but at least I can sleep better at night knowing I have broken the vicious cycle that I started. No more paper plates for my family….from now on its fine china all the way. ALB

Patriotism is not a Dinosaur……yet

Tags

america, opinion, patriotism, thoughts

Happy Independence day! Today is an amazing day for our country and we need to remember what we are celebrating today. I am not going to get into political views and left wing/right wing b.s. We are all Americans and this country was founded so that we would have personal freedoms and be able to live without fear of persecution. So remember as bad as we might think things are getting, people are still flooding into this country. When they start leaving across the border the other way on their own….then we have serious problems. America is still the best country to live in and we need to be thankful for the things we do have. So today, put on your red,white, and blue, get together with friends and family and eat too much. Take 10 or 15min to Google a bit of U.S. history, help educate yourself and others about the foundations of this great nation. It may seem that we are just using this day as another day to take off work and eat and drink too much, but I have to disagree. When the pilgrims landed in America they gathered with their friends and family and had a feast. Food has been a way to celebrate in America for centuries. Food has been a way to express ourselves and to share with each other when we had nothing else to give. We are a melting pot of religions and cultural backgrounds and food in America is a true testament of this. In my own home I have learned to cook a variety of things from friends and family that have come from their family heritage. Nothing brings people together as one like good food, no matter if you are young or old, poor or rich, your education level doesn’t matter, the language you speak doesn’t matter….people can come together over a meal. So fire that grill, cut that watermelon, and let that potato salad set in the sun too long. It wouldn’t be the Fourth of July if you didn’t. Be safe, be happy, and remember why we celebrate today. Thank you to all those who defend this freedom and thank you to all those who embrace the meaning of today.  Remember Patriotism is not the name of some extinct dinosaur, but if we all don’t start showing our love and support for this country on a daily basis it might as well be. God Bless America and all who live in this great nation. ALB