Not So SAHM

Flashback Friday

Stop! Before doing anything else head over to Best Posts of the Week and submit your best post to me. I’ll get them all linked up for a Saturday Morning BPOTW post-fest!

Leigh Anne is over at her blog flashing back about our hairstyles posted for posterity in our Senior year book. So head on over there after reading here to see me in all my early 90s glory. I will say that that was my hair between my Junior and Senior years (and in prior years my bangs were so high they could have been considered a satellite receiver). During my Senior year I had the “I couldn’t care less” attitude and didn’t worry about fixing my hair. And you know what, it actually looked better just straight and not jacked to Jesus. That’s how I still wear it…

Her flashback prompted me to flash back–mainly because I wanted to search my name really quickly and make sure that no one could find too much information by Googling. I found a page on the internet that reminded me that I…used…to…run. I know! DON’T FAINT! Me, exercise!

I ran cross country for two years in college–after my hair days of high school. Who could run successfully with wind-breaker bangs and wings? I’ll admit right now I hated it. Every minute of it. Except for crossing the finish line. That was the best part. And then going out to eat as a team afterwards. That was good too. Apparently I was pretty good though (relatively). What I ran across on the internet was a score sheet for a meet I ran in 1994. I came in 3rd in my school and 34th overall. There were 81 runners. So there were more people that finished behind me than in front of me…woohoo! I had some kind of skillz!

What made me run though? My brother, two years younger, was running in high school. I admired him for his dedication and how good he was. I knew it was a challenge I had never presented to myself before. I think I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it. That would explain the first year. What made me run the second year? Who knows. Maybe it was the pride in my parents’ faces as they watched me run at some of my meets. Maybe it was actually knowing I could do it. Actually, it was a God thing. Had I not been a runner I don’t think my future husband would have been as interested in me. He liked that I was athletic. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Little did he know…

That specialness wore off after the second year and I convinced myself that continuing to run was benefiting no one. I had snagged my man and had proved to myself I could do it. And getting up at 0600 to run first thing in the morning sucked. Agnes Scott was not an easy school. Grades were earned by hard work and late nights…which transitioned into early mornings of sprint practice in the freezing cold (what I consider freezing). And I couldn’t wear gloves because they tickled my wrists when I ran. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

I don’t know if I could run long distances now. I’ve had two babies, both over 8 pounds… I think my uterus would fall out if I ran very far. Maybe I need a cerclage. Nevertheless, thanks Leigh Anne, I enjoyed the “jog” down memory lane, even if it wasn’t of high school times.

She’s Crafty…Fall Edition

Each season has something to look forward to:

Spring has Spring Cleaning, which I can’t say I’ve ever really looked forward to that.
Winter has Christmas and all the holiday cheer.
Summer has July 4th, cookouts and sun.

Now Fall has something great to look forward to…other than the cooling temperatures, which I’m pretty happy about (and I’ve already started shopping for Fall clothes so when’s the temp going to drop around here already!):

FALL PROJECTS!

Tiffany showed us how to make some really cute pumpkins. These are my versions:

Reagan's design — Reagan designed this one

Went a little crazy no? I think they’re so cute. I’ve got to find a way to accent the ones outside my front door. I’m thinking bales of hay…but that may get a little too cuntrified juxtaposed with the preppy bows…

*******************************

And, I can’t wait to make these magnet boards Julie showed us.

These are Julie's trays, make no mistake — These are from Julie

I’ve asked her probably too many questions about the craft and she’s given me hints and tricks.
I’ve got the:

paint
sealer
paper
little clear pebbles to make the magnets

I just need:

the cookie sheets (I have to find a dollar store around here)
the magnet sheets

****************************************

This Fall has energized my creativity. I can’t wait to do more. Oh, one more (I know). I made this Operating Room hat for my cousin:

: Reagan models the hat

It kind of makes me want to become an OR nurse…or convince Reagan to become one.

How Much Do You Pay Your Babysitter?

We are trying to do this Date Night thing that is supposed to keep marriages alive and burning. I have to say my husband is more proactive than I am about making sure we continue to have date nights.

We no longer have the struggle of what to do; there are plenty of things to do around here. Now we have the struggle with HOW MUCH TO PAY THE BABYSITTER…

If you’ve been reading for any amount of time you know how cheap frugal I am. My husband is the same way, if not more so when it comes to “tipping” people. So we need some help.

We have a six year old who is a little talkative, but very compliant. A babysitter’s dream. We also have a 19 month old. You know her and her antics. But she goes to bed around 8pm. Actually both of them do. We have a girl here who is 13 and has sat for us maybe twice now. When we were “interviewing” her we asked her how much she charges. She gave the typical babysitter response that they’re taught somewhere to say: “Oh, whatever you feel like paying me.” Uggh.

Before we embitter her against us I want to know if we’re hitting the mark as to what babysitter’s should make. She lives just down the street so she walks to and from the house.

What do you pay babysitters? What is a high end and low end you would pay? I may fess up and tell you what we pay after I get some responses.

Oh Yeah, And We Got A Car

I didn’t properly finish my post yesterday where I talked about what a week we had. We ended last week up in Birmingham purchasing the younger and feature-filled version of our 1995 Jetta.

: Ye New Faithful

We keep our cars for a long time, which is why I had no idea what comes standard in cars today. It may be only a Jetta y’all, but it feels like the lap of luxury to butts that were sitting on 13 year old seats. And our butts will be warm this winter with seat warmers! The last time I sat in a car with seat warmers I thought I was peeing on myself. I had never experienced those before…

Our other vehicle, a 2000 Durango, will hopefully last us more than five more years. Who knows what cars will come equipped with then!

The Jetta beat out the Prius, the Altima, the 3 series, and the Passat. My requirements were simple:

no minivans
no station wagons
no old-people looking cars

I started to get a little picky when I started wanting blue tooth capability, satalite radio ready, and even a Coke can cooler (the Beamer had one)… Gas mileage and affordability won out in the end.

If we weren’t worried about gas mileage we would have seriously considered a Dodge Charger. That’s a nice looking four-door!

SO! Here’s to a great ending to a somewhat strenuous week. What could top that this weekend?

Black Eye (aka Parent Abuse)

I want to give brief updates about what’s been going on in our lives. And yes, a black eye is involved.

Reagan had an appointment with the orthopedist. He was to check out her ankles and her spine. She pronates to the point of almost walking on the inside of her foot. That’s not all the time, but definitely noticeable, especially in certain shoes. Also, the pediatrician noticed a slight curve in her spine and wanted to have that checked. The x-ray tech mentioned that’s it’s a 7 degree curve…

According to the doctor she’s fine, both her ankles and back. Thinking back on the appointment though, I’m not too pleased with how cavalier he was. How can someone, even a doctor, be able to look at a curved spine while holding the x-ray sheet with one hand (because the x-ray sheet is bending as he’s holding it). We will monitor her to make sure neither situation progresses. She’s just thrilled that she can still wear her little espadrilles I got her in hopes it would help her strengthen her ankles (I know, I know).

***************

Ashlyn had an appointment with the cardiologist because the pediatrician heard a little heart murmur. She told us it was probably just an innocent heart murmur, but it would be best to get checked out. So…I took her in. She didn’t get her blood pressure taken. Not because the nurse didn’t try. Let’s just say a kid must be still and not flailing in order for that cuff to work. The nurse became brilliant when it was time for the EKG. After she strapped the octopus cords all over A’s body she started blowing bubbles. Why we didn’t take the bubbles with us to the ultrasound room I’ll never know.

Thankfully a child does not have to be quiet for an ultrasound image to be captured. A child does have to be still though. Cartoons didn’t work (and she loves them because she never gets to see them); a sucker didn’t work (and she’s never had a sucker until that day either); her sippie (do you spell it sippy or sippie? I can’t remember right now) didn’t work (I knew it wouldn’t); and multiple stuffed animals didn’t work. It took a full-grown woman to practically lay on her to get her still enough for the ultrasound.

Thankfully, and all praise to God here, there is nothing wrong. It is just an innocent murmur.

****************

Mo, one of our cats, also had a doctor’s appointment this week. Unexpected, but still eventful. I’ve blogged about that one already, but wanted to mention it here as it was part of the week of medical appointments.

*********************

The Week Of Medical Appointments didn’t end last week though. Today we’re headed to the Speech Therapist to find out if Ashlyn needs any speech therapy. She had multiple ear infections last fall and winter and it did affect her hearing at the time. She can hear perfectly well now and is even talking. She isn’t saying the appropriate amount of words for her age group though, and the words she does say are pretty incomprehensible unless you’re Mom, Dad or Reagan. I know most kids start off like this, BUT we’re going to see the therapist just to make sure there’s nothing we need to be doing to bring her up to speed.

*****************

Now, where did the black eye come in? Ahh, as we were in the Arctic waiting room shivering and waiting for Reagan to be called back for her orthopedic appointment I was snuggling Ashlyn to stay warm. Well, that’s not the only reason I was gripping her for dear life cuddling her. A couple minutes before she had been trying to climb into a wheel chair while I was turning in the novel I had just filled out. The climb wasn’t successful and she fell and hurt her cheek. Once getting her settled down from that I was holding her in my lap to continue to comfort her. She decided she’d like to do a repeat performance of the kangaroo on crack trick that you may have recently read about. This time, however, she lunged back and slammed the back of her really thick, hard, really hard skull onto my dainty, thinly covered with crow’s feet eye socket bone. I almost cried. It was all I could do not to hurl her off of me. I regained composure because we were being called back for the appointment. I saw stars.

The next day as I was applying eye liner and shadow I saw what I thought was an errant shadow mark on the outside corner of my eye. No, it wasn’t shadow but a nice little bruise left for me by the little one who can’t get enough of me, but yet likes to remind me who’s boss. It’s parent abuse, and I want to know where’s the hotline I can call? It will probably be voice automated…

Friday 13: Pop Quiz

Du has today off, so we have a three day weekend! To celebrate I’m giving you a pop quiz. 13 actually. Heather used to do these a lot. Dandelionmom posted a bunch of these recently, so I’m basically stealing them from her.

Before you do anything though head over to Best Posts of the Week and submit your best post of the week! BPOTW is doing well and growing every week. I’m seeing the BPOTW button on more and more websites. Blog Around the World and Blog Coach are both huge supporters. Thanks!

*******************************************************************************************

FRIDAY 13: POP QUIZ(es)

1. What Year Do You Belong In? I actually like a little bit of every decade. I guess that’s why I can do just as well at the balls as I can at the backwoods bars.

You Belong in 1955

You’re fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

2. What Decade Diva Are You? Dude, that dude below is scary to the max. Like, gag me with a spoon. I look nothing like him when I get diva’ed up. It’s so appropriate though since my youth was spent in the 80s.

You are a 1980s Diva

Bright colors, bigger than life patterns, and outrageous fashions.Your fashion style always has a retro yet futuristic edge.

3. What’s Your Rockstar Name? I always thought the Beastie Boys were onto something when they named their album “Hello, Nasty”. Know how they got that name for their album? Leave the answer in the comments for extra credit.

Your Rockstar Name Is…

Venus Nasty

4. The Sesame Street Personality Quiz Now I know that Ashlyn gets it honestly…

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you’re a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth.You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you’ll eat anything if cookies aren’t around.You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speakingHow you life your life: In the moment. “Me want COOKIE!”

5. What’s Your DJ Name? I can’t believe this name got out. How did they find out? It’s Saturday night. The music’s loud. The shades are drawn. And no, you’re not invited.

Your DJ Name Is:

DJ Naked Groove

6. How Well Traveled Are You? I’ve been to more places listed in Europe than in America. Hmmm…. This is a neat one because there are no cheesy questions to answer. You just check off the cities you’ve visited. I take offense to them saying that I’m not well traveled in the Midwest though. They didn’t include Kansas City or St. Louis or Branson! And I just lived in the Midwest for two years!

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Extremely Well Traveled in Western Europe (86%)You Are Very Well Traveled in the Southern United States (62%)You Are Well Traveled in Eastern Europe (60%)You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (29%)You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Southern Europe (27%)You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the United Kingdom (25%)You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Western United States (21%)You Are Untraveled in the Midwestern United States (0%)

7. How Much Sloth Do You Have? I’m so happy to hear that these people don’t consider me a sloth. Sometimes I wonder…

Your Sloth Quotient: 16%

You’re certainly not lazy. If anything, you’re super charged, hyper, and always going.Slow down a little. You can enjoy a slow afternoon without becoming a total couch potato.

8. What English Speaking Country Are You? Julie, my newfound Kiwi friend, this one’s for you! After Julie’s description of New Zealand on her blog I now want to go…almost more than I want to go to Australia and back to Paris.

You Belong in New Zealand

Good on ya, mateYou’re the best looking one of the bunchThough you’re often forgotten…You’re quite proud of who you are

9. What Age Do You Act? Hmmm, maybe I need to lighten up a little. Kinda hard with two little ones hanging on my cute pants. At least I don’t act too much older than my age! I guess a lot younger wouldn’t be a good thing either would it?

You Act Like You Are 36 Years Old

You are a thirty-something at heart. You’ve had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!You’re responsible, wise, and have enough experience to understand a lot of the world.You’re at the point in your life where you understand yourself pretty well.You are figuring out what you want… and how to get it!

10. Would You Make a Good Pirate? Aye matie, I’ll pillage me a boat and sail me way to New Zealand!

You Are 55% Pirate

Garrrr, yer a true pirate down to yer bones.Yer an originial sea dog, an’ ye certainly have earned yer sea legs.No one be goin’ to accuse ye o’ bein’ a landlubber.Ye got yer eye on the prize, an’ yer willin’ to go pillagin’ fer some booty.

11. What’s Your Pirate Name? I might as well have a name to go with my new persona…

Your Pirate Name Is…

Bloody Janie Jalibird

12. Band Name Generator How awesomely correct is this? My fave flowers are tulips…and you don’t know me if you don’t know my political affiliation. All this from providing my name!

Your Band Name is:

The Republican Tulips

13. How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years? I’d like to think for the better…

You’ve Changed 48% in 10 Years

You’ve done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you’re still the same person.You’re clothes, job, and friends may have changed some – but it hasn’t changed you.