Whatnot Wednesday February 8, 2012

•   I have some kind of random neck/arm injury flare up going on, and it’s hard to type.  Believe it or not, this injury first occurred when I learned how to knit, and now any kind of repetitive motion in my right arm or hand causes it to happen again.  My chiropractor is quite disgusted with my neck, so for his sake and mine, I will refrain from sharing my drawn out musings with you this week.  But I will share this.  Monday night, I played Just Dance 3 for the first time.  It was fun.  And hard.  And hysterical.  And a great workout, although I’m not sure if the dancing or the laughing burned more calories.  Here are me and my friend and neighbor John having a turn.  Rusty is filming.  Enjoy!!!

Need to clear your head?  Write your own Whatnot Wednesday post and link up below so that we can all see the randomness that fell out when you rinsed your brain.  Just don’t forget to link back here or grab my button–get your HTML on.

Whatnot Wednesday February 1, 2012

• I don’t have a lot of whatnot to share today, but I will tell you this.  I had to take my dog to the vet just now because he has this big mass thing right above one of his hips.  The dog is 10 years old, and I was really freaked out.  Both for his health and for our finances.  Taking Sebby to the vet is a pain on any day, because he is a ninny of epic proportions.  He isn’t quite as bad as our last dog Monkey, who would defiantly crap right next to the reception area and then squeal/cry in her opera singer’s soprano vibrato voice.  But he’s still pretty bad, and it didn’t help that it was pouring rain today.  Every time we go to the vet, he trembles violently and demands to be in my lap.  Today, in the waiting room, every time I tried to sit down, he would hurtle himself into whatever chair I was going for.  I accidentally sat on him 3 times and the fourth time, he landed in my lap and got his head stuck in my purse strap.  While it was still on my arm.  Later when I was talking to the vet, he (the dog, not the vet) was propelling himself towards my chest over and over, wanting to be held.  Have I mentioned he’s around 40 pounds?  Anyway, the good news is that the mass is just a fat deposit.  Not a tumor.  Just a love handle.  A muffin top, if you will.  So definitely a relief for me, but I can tell the dog is already getting nervous about swimsuit season.
• I think only one notably funny thing happened this week:  My mom asked Isaac what he was learning in school lately and he answered, “I think right now we are just learning not to break Ms. Frazier’s toys”.
• Other than that, I’m just gearing up for nachomania the basketball game tonight.  Have a great week!

Need to clear your head?  Write your own Whatnot Wednesday post and link up below so that we can all see the randomness that fell out when you rinsed your brain.  Just don’t forget to link back here or grab my button–get your HTML on.

What I Think He Meant January 30, 2012

Last week, we watched the movie “Ramona and Beezus” as a family.  It was a great movie.  We all LOVED it, but not surprisingly, there were a few parts that sent Isaac straight into tears.  When Ramona ran away from home, when she thought she was going to have to leave her house, and of course–of course!–when their cat died.

It doesn’t take much to send Isaac into a fit of grief and remembrance over our beloved cat, Tuffy.  And here was a perfect chance for him to go all Sally-Field-at-the-end-of-Steel-Magnolias when she’s sobbing in the cemetery and admits that her hair really does look like a brown football helmet.

Matthew was in Jason’s lap during this and he turned to his daddy and said, “I wish one of my pets would die”.  I reflexively turned to him and said, “What??” and of course he buried his head in Jason’s chest mumbling, “I mean…..I mean…..”.

Matthew still has a really hard time expressing himself, but I think I did know what he meant.

Tuffy died before Matthew came home and that was quite a big milestone in our family life.  Especially to Isaac.  Matthew has heard of this cat, seen pictures, and witnessed many a grief session over beloved Tuffy.

And he missed it all.

I think he was wishing that he could cry about it too.  And talk about it.  And say “remember when?”.

I think he was saying he wished he could have experienced that event with us.

That he wished he hadn’t missed out on so much.

I agree.

 

 

 

 

It Really Was for their Own Safety January 30, 2012

There are many, many things that make me want to tear my hair out and gnash my teeth and put on a hair shirt when we’re talking mothering.  Isaac stops mid-dinner most nights and announces that he needs to poop and that he would like someone to come watch him please.  Matthew spills yogurt drink on his cloth dining room chair pretty much every day.  But the two things that push me over the edge are 1) the constant “Mom?  look at this”, “hey mom, look!”, “check this out, Mom” coming from the back seat while I try to drive.  I must get asked to view something behind me about 18 times for every mile I drive.  And I calmly say, “you know I cannot turn around while I drive.  My job is to keep you safe.” every time.  And bite my cheeks until they bleed.  2) I’m hungry.

Shall I elaborate?  I put on a 25 minute TV show and start washing dishes, paying bills, relaxing, anything.  Right when I get going, Isaac calls, “I’m hungry!”.  I get him a snack and get back to business and Matthew mumbles, “I hungry too.  Hungry.”  This cycle continues forever.  They each ate about 4 snacks during one TV show the other day.  I think Isaac is growing.  He ate 4 bananas before lunch the other day.  So for their very safety, I made the snack drawer.

Behold:

There is one in the refrigerator too with cheese sticks, yogurt, and homemade granola bars.  The rule right now is get whatever you want, whenever you want.  I don’t want or need to know about it.  The trick is that I feel pretty darn good about 85% of the food in there.  The other 15% I still feel good about, I just want them to have it in moderation.  There is only one catch.  No snacks when the pantry says “STOP”.

I switch it over when meal time is coming up or if I just think they are overeating or something.  But if they see this, it’s a free for all:

There is only one change I think I will make.  I’m going to take the snacks that I want them to eat only in moderation (gummies, yogurt raisins, and cookies) and put them in a special basket that means they can only have one thing from the basket every day.  I’m trying to gauge what they are eating now and see if I need to.  The first snacks they chose were an apple (Matthew) and pretzels (Isaac).  If they start to abuse the sweets, I may move forward.  We’ll see.

Already I am less hostile towards them, and in general.  Leaving for church on Sunday, I just hollered, “everybody grab a snack”.  And while they still ask if they can have a snack, no action is required on my part.

Glorious.  Glorious, I tell you.

Now how can we make them leave me alone while I’m driving?

Protected: How We Roll at Seollal January 30, 2012

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But Enough About Me….Oh, who are we kidding? January 30, 2012

So recently, this fun little award has been going around the blogosphere, and it has been bestowed on me from a couple of other bloggers, including Sue at All Accounted Four, Grace at Chois R Us, and Melissa at Life as a Lewis.  I am proud to count all of these ladies as friends, even though I have never met any of them in real life.  They are just one of the wonderful things that adoption brought into my life, as I met them because they are also adoptive mommies to beautiful Korean kiddos.  Thanks ladies for the love!

the rules of the award:

1. thank the person who gave you this award

2. list seven things people may not know about you

3. pass it on to 15 (or so) other bloggers

1.  Costco is absolutely my new happy place.  My old happy place being…..I don’t know?  My bed?  Okay, I suppose Costco and my bed are tied for my 2 happy places.  I live near our Costco, so I’m there at least once a week, and sometimes more.  I know–don’t laugh, but if I’m driving by, I will run in for a gallon of milk and a honeydew!  I usually just buy 5-6 things at a time, but there is just such a good feeling when you unload and think, “wow, we’re not gonna need dog food for a LONG time”.  Or “if the apocalypse happens, we are SET with Ziploc bags”.  Or “wow, this is enough minipads to last me until menopause.  Score!”.  Last time I was there, I actually upgraded to an executive membership.  I think when you invest in a 25 lb bag of flour, it shows some serious dedication on your part.  I may not have a full time job or ever wear suits or heels, but by George, I get executive respect at Costco.

2.  I haven’t met very many famous people, but I did pee in a bathroom with Janeane Garofalo once.  And Jimmy Carter was on our airplane when we flew to Korea, so I got to shake his hand.  And I smiled at Ruben Studdard in the produce section of Whole Foods.  And once, my sister and I dressed up as the Dixie Chicks and won a karaoke concert and got free tickets to their concert.  So no, I didn’t really meet anybody famous that night, but a drunk person in the bathroom thought we really were in a band.  So there’s that.

3.  Once I won a trip to Mexico on the radio.  I was driving to work and listening to a nationally syndicated morning show.  They were doing a “trip a day giveaway”.  I decided to call in, on a whim, and they had me play a quiz game.  I was a nervous wreck, and pulled over to concentrate, but realized that I would be late for work.  So then I had to do the quiz while driving.  I had to identify celebrity voices and they would give three hints for every voice.  The answers were:  Anna Nicole Smith, Carrie Underwood, and Hayden Panetierre (?).  And then I won!  I was so excited and walked into the pool area and told everyone I had just won a trip to Mexico and it was all of the older ladies and they literally just said, “that’s nice”.  Then they told me it was too bad because I would probably have to pay taxes on it.  BUZZKILL!!!!

4.  I love nachos and popcorn.  Like the nasty nachos you get at a ballpark or the Target snack bar.  With jalapenos.  Dang, they are just so good.  We have tickets to a college basketball game this week, and I keep thinking, I hope Jason doesn’t want to go have dinner before, because I really just want to eat nachos and popcorn and sprite.  And I seriously never eat like that around my kids.  I just will not encourage that nastiness, so I have to indulge when they are not around.

5.  If I was ever in an all you can eat contest, my best chance of winning would be with Thin Mints or popcorn (or possibly nasty nachos).  Somehow I think that I have already shared this information on this blog.  But it bears repeating.  I can eat a lot of that stuff.  And just so you know, Costco (of course!!) has a delicious equivalent to Thin Mints.  Year round.  For a much better deal.  Take that, Girl Scouts!  And the popcorn at Costco is going on sale this week.  Just so you know.

6.  Our wedding was unique.  All of the music at our wedding was popular music that Jason and I chose.  No instrumentals or classical stuff.  My best friend, Rusty, walked me down the aisle…..to a Pete Yorn song.  Which was nice, but I still think it would have been funny to walk/dance down the aisle to Cake’s “Love You Madly”.  The man who married us was my best friend’s mother’s ballroom dance instructor.  Total coincidence.  My dog was there, wearing a collar of roses.  And we sang karaoke at the reception.

7.  This is kind of a weird one, and definitely along the lines of TMI, but don’t act like this doesn’t happen to you.  There are certain places, that when I go there, my digestive juices flow.  Know what I mean?  Let’s just say I know where the bathroom is at the library.  And bookstores.  And antique stores.  And model homes.  Do NOT take me to a model home.  That’s all I’m gonna say about that.

You see, that is the danger of asking someone to list 7 things about themselves.  I’ve shared almost everything there is to share on this here blog and I really had to reach for that 7th one.  I hope you aren’t too traumatized.

So I don’t know if I have 15 people to pass this onto, as many of the blogs I read have already done it or already been tagged.  I have a couple of new readers that I will tag and they are:

1.  Jerusha at Hands Full on Purpose

2.  Juliet and Frenchie, who co-blog at Mommy and the Sin City

and some old friends…

3.  Jenny at A Chosen Child

4.  Yvonne at Our Korean American Family

Thanks for pretending to care caring about all of my randomness!  LYLAS!

Protected: Uncomfortably Numb January 25, 2012

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Whatnot Wednesday January 25, 2012

• This morning before 6:45 AM, I wiped a poopy butt, fed the 3 animals, gave the dog a pill, and broke up a screaming, sobbing, and hitting fight between the boys about who was going to play with the empty toilet paper roll.  An empty toilet paper roll, people.  So basically, I may as well sell the 1000 Thomas trains because they are fighting over an empty toilet paper roll.  Thank God, we didn’t finish a roll of paper towels.  Something that monumental could have sent someone to the emergency room.  Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
• So I joined Pinterest back in September and for one weekend, I got really excited about it.  And then I never went back.  And I keep getting these emails telling me that people are following me on there, and it makes me feel pressured like I should be on there pinning noteworthy things, but I just can’t get into it.  I mean, if you haven’t noticed, I’m barely keeping up with my blog.
• Karate is going great for Isaac.  He really respects his sensei and it is great for teaching him respect and for his confidence.  Monday at class, Isaac tossed his shoes under a chair and the sensei talked to him about how he should line his shoes up nicely.  During class, they also discussed the importance of keeping their rooms neat and clean (especially since the third part of the Little Dragons pledge is “I will clean my room”).  Anyway, when he came home, he immediately went upstairs and did this in his closet:
• Another karate perk is that the other day, I asked Isaac to do something and he said, “I don’t feel like it and I don’t want to, but I will because you asked me to”.  Now I really, really, really need to get Matthew on board with karate.  Because after the infamous toilet paper roll battle this morning, he spit his toothpaste all over the mirror because he was mad at me.  I’m pretty sure that ain’t in the Little Dragons code.
• I’m confused about milk prices.  At my regular grocery store, all of the gallons of milk cost the same.  But at Costco (also known as my happy place), the skim, 2% and whole milk are all different prices.  The skim is the cheapest and the price goes up from there.  That’s some pricey milkfat, y’all.
• I’ve been rollerblading.  We will now pause while you chuckle to yourself.  Are you done?  Good.  So yeah, Jason and I bought rollerblades back when we lived in Florida–probably around 2004.  Neither of us can remember the exact circumstances that led us to a sporting goods store to make this purchase.  I can only assume that these are the kinds of bizarre things you do when you have disposable income.  Anyway, I broke out the rollerblades recently, and Jason and I have had quite a chuckle because you never see people rollerblading anymore or hear about it.  It just seems so…..’90s.  Which is also funny because that would mean that they were already out of style when we bought them.  So now every time I get them out, I get the “Portlandia” song stuck in my head…..the dream of the ’90s is alive.
  
• Okay, I’m just gonna say it.  I would love to win the HGTV dream home.  Who wouldn’t?  But I am such a realist, all I can ever think is that if I did win it, I wouldn’t be able to afford the property taxes and insurance.  I mean once they were giving one away in Key West.  Can you imagine the hurricane insurance on that bad boy??  I’m such a buzzkill.  I know.  Can you imagine how hard it is to be married to me??

Need to clear your head?  Write your own Whatnot Wednesday post and link up below so that we can all see the randomness that fell out when you rinsed your brain.  Just don’t forget to link back here or grab my button–get your HTML on.

Protected: Good Mom Day January 23, 2012

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Whatnot Wednesday January 18, 2012

• Jason has a grand plan to teach the boys to play Go Fish.  Actually, as a romantic gift to me, he also has a grand plan to teach Isaac to play solitaire.  Anything to get that child to stop talking for at least 3 minutes at a time.  So anyway, while I was taking Matthew for a haircut on Monday, he got out a deck of cards and started teaching Isaac about them.  So he taught him about hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs.  Then he set out the face cards and asked Isaac what he thought they were.  He got King and Queen right, but when Jason showed him the Jack, he looked at the “J”, thought for a minute, and guessed–juggler??
• Listening to Isaac pray is always very sweet and sometimes really funny.  One night when he was praying before dinner, he finished up with an “amen” and then said, “oh, and I forgot!  Happy New Year, God”.  Last night, he asked if he could pray for me and closed with, “in your whole name we pray”.
• Oh and while he was praying for me, he was doing it right into my ear.  When he was done he said, “now I will blow it into your brain so you will never forget it.”
• We’ve been buying this new cereal by Cascadian Farms called Clifford Crunch.  Basically, the kids wanted it because it had Clifford on the front.  Basically, I bought it because it seems fairly healthy and it’s organic.  And Isaac isn’t allergic to it.  What I can’t figure out is, what makes the cereal Clifford-specific.  As far as I can tell, there are numerous shapes of cereal pieces, but none of them seem dog-related.  Unless Christmas trees, Jesus fish and Xs have anything to do with dogs.
• This morning, I called Isaac into the kitchen to get his backpack on.  He called out–okay!  Be there in a jiggy!

Need to clear your head?  Write your own Whatnot Wednesday post and link up below so that we can all see the randomness that fell out when you rinsed your brain.  Just don’t forget to link back here or grab my button–get your HTML on.