Friday's Fabulous Five

Remember how I made up this game a long time ago when I blabbed about fabulous things in my life?  I barely do, but I am committed to posting more for my dear, sweet dad and sister who are far away. 

Dad and Lacy, this one's for you.


1- Brynja's sweet face and her spunky personality.  Not to mention the precious peace that falls on her round cheeks in her slumber.

2- SHORT HAIR!!!!  This is the most fabulous thing EVER.  I feel like me again.  I love me with short hair.  I love the ease of it.  I love the look.  I love the spunk.  I LOVE MY SHORT HAIR! 

And I love seeing my short-haired self holding my sleeping Baby Brynja.

Brynja and I, April 14, 2011



3-Having my tax information all in order and in my accountant's hands and OUT of my hands.  YAY.  This was the latest I've EVER done my taxes and I'm so relieved that it's over.

4- Being o.k. with myself and where I'm at.  Sure there are many things that I want to change, but I am mostly in such a great place and feel so good in my own skin.  I like me.  Isn't that weird and novel?  I like this girl named Clancy.  She's a cool cat, says I.

5- Awakening minds.  Some people get excited about sports.  Some love their T.V. shows.  Some people are passionate about exercise or nutrition.  Some about reading books.  Some about art and creating things, decorating and beautifying spaces.  Me?  I like many of those things, but I thrill at expansion of human conscsiousness, mine or others.  I love to make new discoveries about myself.  I love to dig into my psyche and see what drives me to behaviors that are both desirable and not.  I love to watch the process in others and hear about their unfolding.  This is passionate stuff for me.  I love it and I'm shoutin' it to the world. 

♥Clancy

 

P.S. I feel inclined to ask if anyone would like to join me in processing?  If so, I invite you... get down and dirty with a shovel and dig into yourself.  Find out who you are.  Love you.  Become.  I dare you! 

And then tell me about it, if you wish.  I love to hear about your process, if you feel inclined to share.  ♥ 

Rohan the Alien

My Rohan currently has an obsession with aliens.  He talks about them constantly.  He draws them incessantly. 

He has told me several times that he wishes he were an alien.  Today he asked me, "Mom, if I turned into an alien, would you be scared of me?"

I replied, "If I knew it was you, I wouldn't be."

He considered that for a bit and then said, "I could make a badge that I wear that says that I'm Rohan, and then you would know it was me." 

I told him that sounded like a pretty good plan.  He asked me again, "But would you be scared of me?"

"Well, do you think you would be a pretty scary alien?"  I responded.

"Probably.  And I don't know if you would know it was me." he said, with some concern.

I asked him if he thought he would turn into an alien when I was watching or if it would be sometime when I was not looking.  If I was watching, then I would know that he had turned and I wouldn't be scared of him because I would know that he was my son.  But I might be a little scared if I didn't happen to observe this transformation to alien.  But if there was some way he could let me know that it was him, I'd probably be ok knowing my son was an alien. 

He looked very thoughtful and not a little worried. 

He explained to me then that it probably wouldn't be right to have a mom that was scared of her son and that he wanted me to be sure that he's my son. 

"And so, I don't think I'll become an alien, Mom."

I told him that was ok with me too.

Day 8 of 30

A favorite song....

Can't pick just one.  These are three of many songs I've been listening to while I get all my crap together for our meeting with our accountant. These three just happen to be the ones I've been listening to *obsessively*. 

Day 7 of 30

Whoops.  So I'm not doing so hot at staying on task.... but at least I have my subject matter already picked, eh? 

Day 7 is something I want to buy....


I really want to buy a couch.  When we finished our basement, we moved our couch down to the family room and we have yet to replace it upstairs in the living room.  We have a plethora of chairs, currently.  And I don't think I like any of them.  I guess I'm grateful I have somewhere to sit until we buy that couch.  I even have the one I want picked out.  But we decided to be smart and wait until we had the cash to get them (I'd like the loveseat too...)  So, we're still waiting, thanks ever-so-much to our duplex that keeps sucking money. Dustin tore out a tiled shower today and we'll be replacing that next week.  Some mega-idiot that did the bathroom before we bought it put the tile directly onto the sheetrock on the walls and directly on the wood framing on the bottom pan area.  So, the shower has been leaking and leaking over the years, turning sheetrock to mush and the framing to compost under the tile.  Lovely. 

I'd also like flooring for my living room... and paint, and new windows and new curtains.  And new cabinets for my kitchen, and new flooring... pretty much a whole new upstairs to match our whole new basement.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Day 6 of 30

Something you bought recently...

It seems like all I spend money on lately is my rentals.  Last week I bought a gallon of paint, a gallon of polyurethane for refinishing hardwood floors ($50 for ONE gallon!!), a floor-finish applicator, blinds for windows, a shower curtain rod, and I rented a floor sander.  I also purchased the service of a roto-rooterish company (FOUR times in as many months), a sewer line camera, an excavating company, and a furnace repairman.  Not to mention paying for heat and power in a vacant house for two months...

Just so you know, these are my least favorite things to spend money on. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I just sent all my children to bed for being Bratty McBrattykins. (Brynja was the exception)   Right now I'm listening to a chorus of screams.  If someone is walking by outside they might be worried about what is going on in this house.  Ella is screaming like I severed her arm, and Mac is mock-wailing to make fun of Ella.  (Don't worry, no arms have actually been severed.)  They are in their rooms.  Ella can hear him and so she screams louder and then he screams louder too, to make her mad.  She screams back at him to be quiet and he continues screaming.  I told her, just now, the magic secret.  STOP SCREAMING.  If you stop screaming then he'll stop making fun of your screaming.  She hasn't seen the sense of my motherly wisdom yet. 

Mac just discovered that Rohan is no longer in time-out.  He ceased his mock-wailing and started yelling the question, "Why is Rohan out of time out?"  Rohan, who sat quietly on the couch (his time-out spot, as he shares a room with Ella and I didn't want to deal with that time-out disaster) during his punishment, was thanked for taking his sentence with good grace, and was promptlly freed from his cushiony prison.  Mac didn't think this was fair.  I told him he was still trapped because he was making fun of Ella's screaming and he then tried to tell me that he wasn't making fun of her.  Sure, kiddo.  Nice try. 

It's shaping up to be one of those evenings I wish I could hold an auction for a couple of kids.

Any opening bids?

Day 5 of 30

Did a week really just go by?  I'm so busy I could scream.  Or cry.  But right now I'm waiting for the washer to stop so I can swap the contents to the dryer because I want a particular shirt tomorrow... and so, rather than scream or cry or get anything done of my many things-to-do, I blog.

Day 5 is Top Ten Pet Peeves

I've not been looking forward to this one.  I think it's because I dislike lists.  Here goes, in no particular order of relevance.

#10: Lists

#9: Whiny tenants.

#8: The new traffic pattern on a street right by my house that I HAVE to drive on ALL the time.  It used to be two lanes and now it is one lane and people suddenly feel the need to drive 20 mph instead of the posted 35 mph (or 40 like they used to do before the change).  I have never acted on the road rage that I feel, but I vividly imagine ramming the back of the vehicles in front of me when I drop from 35-40 to 20.  I get so mad.

 #7: My children being tattle-tales just for the sake of telling me or getting their sibling in trouble.

#6:  Poor spelling and incorrect grammar.

#5: Being asked my telephone number/account number AFTER I already entered it using the keypad on my phone. Why do they ask for it twice? What was the point of entering it in the first place?   (stole this one from Esther but it sure doesn't make it any less true for being stolen)

#4: Trying to talk to those automated phone things and if you don't say things just right or if there's any noise in your house, they say, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.  It sounds like you said..  'Blah Blah Blah', is that correct."  NO YOU IDIOTIC PHONE THINGY!!  I HATE YOU!  JUST GIVE ME A REAL PERSON!!!  (I may or may not actually scream at those things in real life...)

#3: Mispronunciations of words like nuclear, escape, especially, salsa, and MY NAME. 

#2: When my adorable husband or children don't rinse their milk out of various dishes before letting them sit in the sink for a while.  Just put a touch of water in that bowl or cup, please, my loves?  It makes the washing so much easier.  (I try to maintain sweetness with this one... it does bug me but it's one of those things that I let go of pretty easily because I love them)
#1: People who call about a house or apartment I have for rent, ask me a million questions and take a good five minutes of my time and then, as an afterthought, ask if I allow cats or accept Idaho Housing (subsidised housing program).  NO, I DON'T!!  I sure wish you would have asked that at the first.  Thanks for wasting BOTH of our time.


End of negative ranting.

Day 4 of 30

Something I crave...

So many things.

To be touched.  I crave a massage on my neck.  I crave my feet to be rubbed.  Or even just held.  Dustin laughs at me because I often ask him to just hold my feet, wrapping his hands around them with gentle pressure.  I love that.  I also love my back, face and/or arms to be tickled.

I crave self-awareness.  I love to dig in to my own psyche.  I want to heal old hurts that I find there. 

I crave escape.  A book.  A trip.  A girls' night out.  I am happy and content for the most part, but sometimes I just want escape.

I crave fresh mozzarella, basil and homegrown tomatoes.  And I often crave orange juice.  And Cadbury Mini Eggs.

I crave a thunderstorm.

I crave that place I sometimes get into when I write where I can pour my whole sould into the words and I feel better for the writing of them.  And I feel satisified.

I often crave a good solid cry.

I crave sunshine.  I crave that right now.

I crave singing and playing my guitar.  I crave singing with my family. 

See... so much craving, so little time. 

Day 3 of 30

A favorite picture. 

I could stare at this picture all day long.  That probably means I should frame it, huh?

Brynja Leigh, March 20, 2010  hours old.

Day 2 of 30

A picture of me last year and now and how I have changed since then…

 

Pictures… my favorite!  I’m just so good at uploading them! 

Here’s me last year… right about this same time.  A year ago today I was two days from my due date with Brynja. 

As you might have guessed, I’ve changed a little bit since then, physically speaking. 

Here’s me recently… this was at a Valentine’s Day Dinner/Fundraiser/Dance thing.  It was SUCH a fun night… D and I learning the Cha-Cha and then Jessica (on the left), Rebby and I (and our hubbies too, now and then) dancing til they closed down the house…  that was a great night. 

So my coat hides my tummy a little bit, but you can see that I’m definitely shaped different now than I was a year ago.  Thank goodness.  Pregnancy is great in many ways, but I was so very uncomfortable this last time.  I’m so glad that’s done. 

How else have I changed, besides the very obvious?   Last year my life was about growing a baby and preparing my mental faculties for the life-altering event that having a baby is.  I was not feeling introspective or even very self-aware, with the exception of my physical self.  Now I feel like  I’ve cycled back into the digging/introspective/processing/moving-forward Clancy.  I felt very stagnant for a long time… a year and a half or two.  I am now digging around in my heart and looking for the areas that are ready for growth.  I’m finding them.   Maybe that’s why I want to blog.  Why I’m actually writing blog posts in my head while I’m in the shower. 

It’s interesting as I think on where I’m at now, I notice that I am much kinder to myself .  I feel like more of an observer this time around than I did in my last cycle of growth.  I look at the things that need work with more love and more acceptance.  That feels good to notice.  I am ok with where I’m at, even though I’m not where I want to be.  I feel like an observer of my life in many ways.  Like I am watching something unfold.

And I like that.

Day One of 30

I’m stealing this idea from Esther, who reportedly stole it from some of her friends… whatever… blogging is all a bunch of thievery, I suppose.  At least when it comes to this type of thing. 

This is a 30 day blogging plan.   We’ll see how I do.

Day 1- Five things about you that no one really knows. 

Hmm… is there anything that you don’t know about me?  I seem to tell all.  Let’s see…

1- When I was young, my older sister and I would pretend that we were detectives.  We had models from magazines who were the murder victims.  We had file folders and everything.  I remember one file folder in particular, The North Beach Twins.  We had two pictures of the same model in bright green leather, but we called them twins.  There were many more cases, but all had a common suspected murderer… a foul character by the name of “Rad”.  He had a file all his own.  He was a caricature drawing that my brother did, complete with tats and leather.  He was definitely a shady character. 

Sarah and I would traipse around the neighborhood picking up clues and being very detective-ish.  We wore high-heels and tight skirts as proper girl-detectives should, or so we thought. 

It was my favorite game.  Probably more for the fact that my sister, with whom I didn’t always get along, played with me and we had fun doing so. 

It’s a fond memory.

2- I have never been to Disneyland.

3- My little sister is moving away this weekend and I want to cry every time I think about it.

4- I am allergic to cats.

5- I come up with my best blog posts in the shower.  But the trouble lately is that I come up with them and then I get out of the shower and I get the pleasure of not writing them because I have the most adorable almost-one-year-old to take care of.  And she does NOT share mommy with the computer well.  We’re working on it.

Perhaps this 30 day challenge will kick my butt in gear to blog a little more.  But I’ve said that before. 

No promises. 

Oh, and P.S…  remember that one blog post where I was going to do one of the projects that has been resting heavy on my mind?  Yeah, well, I did the project (or, well, mostly Dustin did) but I never posted about it.  L.A.M.E. 

The project was our lovely built-in desk in our new basement.  You see, we have this tidy little nook we built and we thought how perfect it would be for the desk we had to just slip right in there.  But then we didn’t account for the sewer cleanout that stuck out of the wall, preventing the desk from fitting by about 3/4”.  It was a sad and frustrating day.  (But not quite so sad or frustrating as the day we discovered that our entertainment center would not fit down our stairs to go into our new family room…) 

Anyway, our solution was a built-in desk.  Dustin (with help from his lovely assistant) built it, and we even did a shelf over the top for our printer  AND we did a pull out tray for our mouse and keyboard.  It’s all so wonderful I can hardly stand it! 

Would you like to see pictures? 

TOO bad.  I suck at posting pictures.  But I think you already know that.   :-p

 

Oh yeah, and here’s the rest of the topics for the 30 day thingy, in case any of you want to thieve.

Day 01 – Five things about me that no one really knows. 
Day 02— A picture of me last year and now and how I have changed since then
Day 03 — A favorite photo
Day 04 — Something I crave
Day 05 — Top 10 pet peeves
Day 06 — Something I bought recently
Day 07 — Something I want to buy
Day 08 — A favorite song
Day 09 — A favorite movie
Day 10 — A favorite food & recipe
Day 11 — A favorite book
Day 12 — A favorite quote
Day 13 — What did I do today??
Day 14 — My dream house...
Day 15 — Next 3 on “Bucket List”
Day 16 — A favorite Youtube video
Day 17 — A habit you wish you didn't have
Day 18 — The meaning behind your blog name
Day 19 — A hobby of mine
Day 20 — My favorite Christmas tradition
Day 21 — A travel story
Day 22 — A photo of my family
Day 23 — Share a previous Christmas memory
Day 24 — 5 things you love about Christmas
Day 25 — A place I love
Day 26 — A child I love
Day 27 — A person I love
Day 28 — A secret you want to get out
Day 29 — Testimony
Day 30 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days