Epiphiny

I am not Wonder Woman.

Well, duh, right?

Though, what girl didn’t want to be Wonder Woman growing up?  I mean, first, she’s gorgeous. Second, she can bend metal and throw dynamite.  And C, she beats up all the bad guys and still looks…gorgeous.

But I digress.

No, I figured out this week that I most certainly did not grow up to be Wonder Woman.  Damn.

See, I didn’t think.  That is usually the root of most of my problems.  I say “Yes” and neglect to think about the ramifications of my agreement.  Raise your hand if you do that.

You really did just raise your hand, didn’t you?

OK.  So months ago, I took on the responsibility of the Community Yard Sale.  I figured I do all of the prep and advertising for just one, so the same amount of work goes in to the Community, right?  And I planned it to piggyback on the Borough-wide Yard Sale, since we are just outside of the Borough.  A couple of signs, and we’re set, right?

Yep.  Tonight I found myself lettering a bunch of big posterboards, transforming saved Yard Sale signs (I’m so OCD) to read “Community”, and oh, yeah, sorting and pricing the bazillions of junk we have to sell you’re the yard sale. My sale has kinda gone into the background because I’m feeling responsible for the other houses if no one shows up.  And they will, but…

Tomorrow Little Miss and I will venture forth to the neighborhood stores to post signs.  This will happen before I drive 25 minutes to get allergy shots. 

Then, I have to race home to clean my downstairs because I thought the Wednesday before my yard sale would be a great time to hold a drop in party for my friend who makes her own jewelry.  I’m actually really excited for this party and want it to go well.  I mean, her jewelry is amazing.  But the closer I get to a drop-in party with an unknown amount of attendees, the more the OCD-ness kicks in. 

So Little Miss and I headed to my favorite scratch –and –dent grocery store to get food and supplies for Wednesday.  And to get sodas and drinks to sell at the yard sale.  And, yes, purchase food to prepare meals for my family when I’m not in the corner banging my head against the wall.

We walk out of the store in the pouring rain, so I usher Little Miss into the car and unload the bags of soda, veggie tray makings, and yummy things to dip into the chocolate fountain (which I just realized needs to come up from the basement and be tested before tomorrow…).  Drenched, I start driving home when Little Miss asks me when we are going out in the afternoon and could she invite a friend?  I start to repeat the “I am not your cruise director” speech when I realize that I promised to take her to the potato chip factory for the tour (and yummy fresh chips right off the line!). 

So we race home, unload the groceries from the car in the pouring rain (I won’t tell you what my kitchen floor looks like right now!), load the outside fridge with a million ounces of liquid (true), toss the rest of the food where it belongs.  I prepare a healthy meal of microwave mac and cheese for Little Miss, and we head back out the door.  Did I mention it was pouring?

We actually enjoyed the tour, and I was able to keep my mind off of the 43 items on my to-do list.  Of course, the tour goes from building to building and we got wet because it was still pouring.  BUT, I grabbed some chips for the party, and we head home again.

Little Miss’s next question is, “What’s for dinner?”  Oh Man.  Run to the freezer, grab the meat that I was supposed to defrost and breathe a sigh of relief when the recipe says 1 hour.  Perfect timing!  Unfortunately, that meant 1 hour of cooking time.  So I dash around trying to make things happen as quickly as possible, dumping green pepper seeds and onion bits on the floor (did I mention my kitchen floor?). 

Dinner is finished, cleaned up, and I have poured myself a cup of coffee and am heading to price some yard sale stuff when Little Miss asks, “Can we play a game tonight?”  Since she’s been out playing in the fantastic weather and we’ve missed family game night and she can’t go outside because it’s POURING…I became the banker for the Game of Life.

I lost the game, by the way.

As I’m putting Little Miss to bed, thinking about how glad I am that the Folks from London have been procrastinating with my latest writing job, Little Miss looks at me and says, “Mama, I had a really good day today.  I Love You.”

Well, Wonder Woman I ain’t.  And I’m still going to rush around for the next 4 days to get everything accomplished.  But what I do know is that my little girl loves me, and no matter what I take on, she thinks I’m wonderful.

What else do I need?

By the way, check out my friend Jacqui’s beautiful work on her website: JoyfulJac Jewelry

Quiet House, Crazy House

I know some crazy people.

Our friends have 7 children.  If they had the chance, they’d have more.  They range in age from 10 to 4 months, 4 adopted.  The house is noisy, colorful, and in constant motion.

I call it bedlam. 

When we walk in, loud music is playing in the kitchen.  Papa is cooking something wonderful (that Little Miss won’t eat).  One to three children throw themselves at my ankles, and call my name with varying clarity.  Books, CDs and DVDs are in piles, and sometimes clean laundry.  Someone is climbing on or jumping off something.  The TV is on.  You can’t find the remote.  Someone else is on the iPad.  Someone is yelling, usually an adult.

I love it.

My house is neat and orderly.  I constantly declutter.  I make a meal schedule and shop according to that (Little Miss still won’t eat it).  I schedule workout time, writing time, cleaning time.  Books are put away.  Toys live in the playroom.  The surfaces are shiny.

I hate it.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am really proud of my house and the way it looks.  I work hard to keep it that way.  And I’m very happy to leave the noise and the brightness and go home to my quiet home.  But sometimes, I look at the crazy-ness of their home and secretly wonder if I could live like that.

Somewhere between bedlam and OCD-world, there is the happy medium I am hoping for.  I want to yell at my kids for running in the house, or slamming the door (OK, Little Miss does that constantly).  I love my home, and I want to fill it with love like they have.

Is that too much to ask?

Simply…

I love it when craft projects use the word “simple”.  And every time I read it, I’m sucked in!  So as I was perusing my new Family Fun (April 2012), I saw a wonderful organize-your-kids-collections idea using glass and plastic food jars.  Since Little Miss loves to pick up stones and shells, I thought this would be a great solution. 

So I went to my collection of clean pickle jars (you never know when there will be a pickle jar emergency!) and collected a few to make them.  The first problem I ran into was the labels.  See, you can soak them off, but the glue won’t come off!!  I thought, well, Downy takes off wallpaper, so let’s try pickle jar labels.

I soaked my jars overnight and end up with two that were clean enough to use.  I did some scrubbing with an abrasive sponge and ended up with 4.   

Now we are 27 hours into this project.

Shew!  Now to attach the “specimens” to the lids.  Well, I don’t have the Amazing Goop they suggest, and my superglue has dried up.  So I pull out my trusty hot glue gun and get to work.  The rock is just fine, and glues nice and snug.  But the nautilus shell that Little Miss chose isn’t sticking too well.  So I decide to paint the rock lid, and grab the tempera.  Again, the suggestion is to use spray-paint, but I’m a little too smart to allow a 7-year-old to use spray paint.  So, she paints the lid for the rock jar while I glue the shell and it looks great.  On to the shell, but as she’s painting it, the shell drops off and rolls away, leaving a pink trail across the kitchen floor.   

Oops.   

OK, fine.  Paint the lid, paint the shell, we’ll glue them in the morning.  In the meantime, we paint the other two plain lids for the yet-to-be-discovered treasures.

Now we’re 40 hours into the “simple” project. 

I’m holding the glue gun again, saying words in my head that my 7-year-old doesn’t need to hear yet as I use a generous amount of glue to attach the %*(*^T%$@ shell to the $$^()^$@ lid.  Once that is done, I forbid Little Miss to touch it while the glue cools, and I go off to nurse my burnt finger. 

45 hours: Repainting the shell and lid.  Thank goodness, the shell seems to be staying put this time.  Little Miss wanders in to the kitchen and says, “I don’t like that color pink.  Can we paint it again?”   

(*^(%#^%$@.

47 hours: Lid is repainted again, and drying.  We have placed the “special” rocks in one jar and the 4 million silly bands she doesn’t wear in another jar. 

49 hours, 23 minutes: Shells in the jar, lids are all placed.  Grudgingly I say that they look pretty good. 

Two lessons learned here. 

1) “Simple” is a very objective word.  What is simple for people who spend their days crafting might not be for the rest of us. 

2) Take the time to shop for the correct ingredients.  Trying to substitute may bring about those words that a 7-year-old shouldn’t hear.

Happy Mother's Day to All!!

When I was trying to have Little Miss, there were three things I hated:
1. People who asked when we were going to start a family
2. Baby Showers
3. Mother's Day


I hated Mother's Day.  I was happy to celebrate it with my Mom, but it was a day that reminded me that I was childless...even with an incredible amount of effort.  I'll admit it, I was jealous. I was yearning to fill my home with children that are out of my reach...that's what Mother's day was, a day that was simply a reminder of unfulfilled longings.


It got to the point where I had to be dragged out the door on Mother's Day.  So, Hubby did one year, to a church that we had only recently started attending.  About halfway through the service, Pastor Tom stood up to talk about Mother's Day.  I started to grab my purse so I could escape to the bathroom.


Suddenly, all of the women in the congregation were asked to stand up.  Pastor Tom started to commend us all as mothers...not merely to children, but to everyone in the church and in our lives.  


You see, whether or not you have a child, you are made with the ability to care for people unselfishly, giving up time and energy to those around you.  You mother the children (and adults!) in your family, your church, your life.  Basically, you don't have to give birth to a child to be a Mother!


So this Mother's Day while the world is celebrating motherhood, remember the "childless" too.  We all know the Proverbs 31 woman needs to be appreciated, but the 1 Samuel 1 woman does too.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing women in my life!!!

"Supermoon"

I was so excited!  I was going to go outside tonight and see the "Supermoon".  


For a space geek (who has lost shuttle missions...)  this is about as good as it gets.  You see,the moon officially became full on Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT...And because this month's full moon coincides with the moon's perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year's biggest.


The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet.  Basically, this is as close as it gets:) I wanted to see the really big moon.  


But alas...it is a cloudy night.


What cracks me up, though is to read about how people are actually frightened about the Supermoon.  


There are so many theories...but my favorite is still--Supermoon Sank the Titanic.  See, the theory is that an abnormally high tide caused movement in the icebergs, sending them right into the Titanic's path.


But it gets better.  People believe all sorts of odd things about a full moon, not just when it coincides with a Supermoon.  There are theories about increased seizures and increased pet injuries.  However, scientists have found no true links to these behaviors.  Sleep deprivation may be the only logical link to a Supermoon, because the increased light would keep people awake.  


But if you want to blame your devient behavior on the full moon or the supermoon, keep in mind that a 2010 study using police, astronomical, and weather data from San Antonio, Texas, found no link to support popular lore that has suggested lunar phase influences the volume of crime reported to the police. The study was published in the Journal of Criminal Justice.

In case you do have a clear sky out there, those crazy folks at NASA have whipped up this tutorial on the Supermoon:

http://school.failblog.org/2012/03/16/homework-class-test-lunar-theory-prepare-yourselves-for-the-super-moon/

Let me know what you think!!  Is it a Supermoon,or a flop?

They're Here!

Just a quick post to welcome my nieces, Adley Sue and Harper Anne!!  Welcome to the family, precious angels!  We are blessed to have you!

To My Child...

I looked for you again today.  Sometimes I feel like I am “shopping” when I look at all of the children who are waiting for a family.  I know your picture isn’t there, because I will know you when I see you. 

I wonder if people can understand the longing to be a mother when it isn’t possible.  I wonder if they can fathom the fact that every time Little Miss has a tantrum, I wish for more children throwing themselves on the floor, not less.  It is so difficult knowing that your family is not complete and not knowing where you are. 

I have to be honest, I am a little more hopeful lately with a case worker who knows how to return an email and is looking out for our family.  Suddenly, I feel like someone else is rooting for us.  And this someone can make things happen.

I wonder if you know what you will be joining when you come home.  You will have a sister, 4 cousins (all girls, sorry), two sets of grandparents who are ready to adore you, 4 Aunts and 3 Uncles who can’t wait to include you.  I picture Christmas with all 6 children playing in the wrapping paper and “feeding the reindeer”.  I can see us cuddling at story time. 

A friend told me the other day that we had a “lot of love to give”.  That is true.  I can’t wait for you to experience the love in our family. 

My child, I can’t wait for you to join us.  We are waiting for you.