Thoughts and Events

So, my blogging career, which once served me such delicious bites of verbal release, has taken a nose-dive. And I'm fine with that, mostly.

I was reading through some old posts a few weeks ago and I got all teary-eyed remembering how much I always gained from my verbose self-expression on these empty white boxes we call, "New Posts". I loved to conjure a story from nothing. I loved to express my feelings. I loved to tell some event in some creative or whimsical way. I loved to make myself laugh. (I always hoped I was making other people laugh too, but I was always laughing enough at myself to be satisfied... regardless of the state of other people's chuckle-meter) I loved COMMENTS!!! (I still love comments, but let's be honest here, Clancy... you have to POST to have COMMENTS.) I loved to see another follower show up on my sidebar. I loved to see that people wanted to read what I was saying, as shocking as that was sometimes.

And now... I draw blank after blank. And I'm ok with that... mostly. I keep saying mostly because I feel like I'm missing something. I feel like I've lost a friend. But, I also have realized that there are times and places for everything in life and my blog has taken a back burner to several things in my life.

I spend much of my daily life homeschooling my son. It is going well, I think, and I think it has been so good for him. I think he is retaining some of the innocence of youth that might otherwise be taken preemptively in this fast-paced world. He is such a sweet kid, despite how some days I feel like he might be the death of me. Although, as he is maturing those days are becoming more and more rare. He is growing up and I couldn't be more proud of the young man he is turning into. His latest thing is to sit with the "grownups" while we are talking. He is happy to just listen to adults talk. I must admit that I was the same when I was a child. Sometimes it is aggravating, but how can I get frustrated with him when he is simply being me? (sometimes that's why I get frustrated with him, I think...) He says big things that often take me by surprise.

In science we have been talking about solutions: solutes and solvents. It has been fun for me to go through all this with him as I often learn something new or simply relearn a forgotten thing. In today's lesson we learned about saturation of a solvent and how temperature of the solvent can affect the solubility and therefore the saturation point.

On his lesson assessment there was a question that had a graph to the side showing solubility and temperature of the solvent. The question asked, "What can we conclude from this graph?" We read the choices together... "A." I said, "Decreasing temperature increased the solubility for all three substances."

"No," he said. "Not that one."

"B." I read. "Increasing volume increases solubility for all three substances."

In all seriousness and without missing a beat, he said, "Pantene will increase your volume!" He was so proud of himself that he knew that! I was so taken off guard by his use of the term 'volume', especially because it was verbatum from a TV ad, or more likely, straight off the Pantene bottle in our shower that I burst out laughing! Looking slightly abashed, he asked what was so funny. I schooled my face back into seriousness and told him that clever advertisers say that Pantene will make your hair look more full, or have "volume". I then explained what they meant by the term 'volume' on his science assessment. He laughed a little and I told him how smart he was and what a good memory he has and we moved on.

I had to record that one. Rohan still says adorable things all the time because he's only four. Ella still says cute things too off and on... or simply funny things that she thinks is fact. Mac now says smart things all the time (sometimes that would be brainy-smart, other times that would be sassy-smart...) and is getting old enough that he doesn't say very many "cute" things anymore. But today, he was cute, precocious and without guile. I love that child of mine and I had to record some cuteness while I still can.

So... that is one thing that my blog has taken a back burner to. Homeschooling. A very large chunk of my time each day is devoted to that awesome, frustrating, incredible, wonderful and cumbersome tservice that I am blessed to be able to offer to my son. I think some people don't approve of my choice to homeschool. I have discovered this disapproval comes across in many interesting and subtle varieties. Little looks people give me, little things they say. I honestly don't care who approves and who doesn't, but it's interesting to observe people. What they think they are keeping to themselves is really glaringly obvious to me. I just laugh to myself and think of the subtle differences I can see in my son and I know I'm doing the right thing.

Pregnancy must be another thing that blogging sits behind. Seems like it should be no big thing. Lots of people blog just fine while pregnant. But not me, apparently.

I'm 24 weeks now. I realized that my last post about being irritated by questions about my baby bump was a little harsh. I went to New Moon with some girlfriends and one of them that I didn't know super well said, "I read your blog and so I know I shouldn't ask you about your belly."

Crap!

Not true. If you see me, feel free to ask, folks. I was particularly irriatated that day and the people I spoke of just didn't seem to really care... it just seemed like they were making idle conversation. (Which may be untrue. That conclusion may simply have been the filter of my crabby, bugged mood.) Anyway, if you see me, don't be afraid of me scratching your eyes out if you ask me about my baby! I will be nice. I promise. If you see me glaze over and step out of my body, know that I'm having an wool-blanket-itchy-I-can't-stand-to-be-in-my-skin day. It's not you. It's me.

So... I had more thoughts, but they have recently checked out and this brain is now vacant. Just thought I'd update a little with a few thoughts and happenings. I am still alive and breathing... just doing so while almost completely ignoring my blog.

And now, this sleepy, blog-ignoring girl is going to bed. Goodnight.

iTchY

Do you ever have one of those days where you're all agitated for no particular reason? Or there may be a reason, but you're not sure how that reason could make you agitated like you are?

Today is a day like that.

Today itches me. Today feels like my clothes feel lately... bunchy, tight and uncomfortable. Today I've ventured out to run a few errands. I talked to people. I saw some people I know. They asked me about my baby... "Are you having a boy or a girl? When are you due?"... those kinds of questions. I felt like I was standing outside myself and watching myself answer in a nice cheerful-bordering-on-sugary tone, "Oh... we didn't find out the sex of the baby. We are going to let it be a surprise." and "I'm due in March..." They then responded in equally near-sugar tones about how fun that will be. All of this occurred without incident, but in my mind all I wanted to do was scratch at the discomforts of my day... walk away from those questions and those people... tell them they were irritants and to not ask those "conversational" questions that they didn't seem genuinely interested in, just asked them because my baby bump was the most obvious thing to talk about. Clearly, I had no tolerance for them today. Or, I did, as long as I could exit my body while I answered them.

I can't name why, but I am looking forward to this day being over so I can get out of my irritating clothes, put my PJs on and go to sleep.

And hopefully wake to a non-itchy state of mind.

Looky! Looky!!

Today, I got my humble little blog post published on someone ELSE'S website!! (meaning, not on my own humble little blog!)

Check it out!

I'm fairly honored that they would want to publish something of mine. I was bold enough to send them two more things I wrote and they are going to publish them in the coming two or so months. WOW!

Miracles Do Happen

I was showered AND dressed AND had my hair done before 9am for TWO days in a row this week.

I believe in miracles.

Ella

I've been having a wardrobe problem, as, I'm sure, anyone who has ever been pregnant can relate to. It's been getting better as I continue to grow abdominally. I can now hold up a few pairs of maternity pants without them falling off. But I have whined a little bit to my friend Rebby about this problem. It would appear that I only want to wear pajamas because they are comfy.

The other night, after a bit of whining about my clothes and my dreams of being in my pajamas, Rebby sent me home with a very comfy pair of yoga-ish pants and a shirt that matches. Today, I was still wearing my PJs when someone came to the door. This was not the hour one should still be in PJs so I quickly ran and threw on the borrowed comfy clothes from Rebby. I visited with my visitor for a while and then went to get Ella from school.

Ella climbed in the car and, as she sat down, I heard her little nose sniffing. She sat there testing the air for a few seconds as I was backing out of my parking spot. After a those few sniffs she asked me, "Did Grace and Olivia come over today?"

"No," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because it smells like their house in our car," she replied.

I laughed out loud and told her to smell my clothes. Grace and Olivia are Rebby's two younger daughters.

"Why do you smell like Rebby's house, Mom?" she asked. "Did you go over there today?"

"No, these are Rebby's clothes," I replied. "She let me borrow them."

Rebby's clothes, by the way, smell like fresh laundry... this is a good smell.

Her little sniffer was satiated and she let the conversation drop. Maybe I could hire her out as a hound dog part-time?

Hi There

'Tis I.

My whole household is feeling much better. I still stay in my PJs until 1, 2 or 3 o'clock, but that has been a home-school induced phenomenon, not a sickness induced one. Being sick just helped me feel better about the whole thing.

I have some cutie-patootie Halloween pics that I might someday add to this blog. But first, I'd need to remove them from my camera, which is proving to be easier said than done.

Guess what?

I'm going to be published on a website! I'm rather excited. Mormonwoman.org contacted me and asked if they could publish my "To Be A Woman" post. I was honored! I said yes. It should come out next week sometime... Tuesday, I think!

Cool beans. Thanks, Ginny, for telling them about my post.

Last night I made Yaki-Soba for dinner. (I guess that's spelled right? I don't really know...) It's a Japanese dish that my friend, Rebby, taught me how to make. It's incredibly yummy and I have some leftovers calling my name from the fridge right now....

Can you hear them?

Claaaancy...... Claaaaancy!!!! Come and eat us! Feed your baby some Japanese deliciousness for lunch!!!

You know what the best part about making dinner is? Clarification: when I actually MAKE dinner, do you know what's the best part? When there is leftovers and I can eat them for lunch.

Sick

It's hit our household.

We've all been sick.

It started on Saturday with Ella. She had a fever. Not too high, but a fever that made her somewhat lethargic. She had nothing, aside from that fever, Saturday, Sunday and all day Monday. Then, Monday night she threw up. Tuesday she was mostly better.

Monday night, Dustin and Mac started feeling crummy and slightly feverish. Tuesday Dustin felt awful and Mac, to compliment his fever, threw up. Just before he threw up, Dustin and I heard Mac yell out, "HERE IT COMES!!" (He despises throwing up.) Dustin and I laughed at his announcement.

Rohan was showing no signs, except some chest congestion, which has been my story since about Friday.

Wednesday, Mac continued with his fever. Dustin stayed home again, still feverish. Rohan started showing fever signs, while I simply continued to have a lot of chest congestion. Ella returned to school.

Today, Dustin is feeling better and back at work. Mac and Rohan are feverishly languishing in the living room, and I STILL have chest congestion but only that. (for which I am grateful)

For as much as I dislike sickness in my house, this has been a relatively fun one. Dustin was home with ALL of us on Tuesday, albeit sick, but he was home. Ella went to school Wednesday, so with the exception of her we were all home together yesterday too. That is a treat for me, even if we are sick.

We all have been laying around like slugs the whole week. I've only been dressed for a couple of hours at a time when I was forced to go out and buy things like Saltine crackers, Sprite and children's Ibuprofen. It's been an adventure in hibernation and healing, watching non-stop movies and reading books.

I hate being sick, but I love my little family's togetherness.



P.S. I keep having people ask me if it's Swine Flu (insert bloodcurdling scream and scary music) and I'll just say for the record... I don't know and I don't care. I think Swine Flu (insert bloodcurdling scream and scary music) is purely propaganda. I think it's a scare tactic. For heaven sake's people... it's just the flu!

I just heard on the radio the other day that our Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning president has declared a National Emergency because the Swine Flu (insert bloodcurdling scream and scary music) deaths have now totaled 1000.

1000? Are you kidding? I've been researching a little and everything I've read states that the flu kills about 36,000 people per year. EVERY YEAR! And now our president has declared a National Emergency because 1000 people have died?

Healthcare propaganda, is what I think it is. A bunch of B.S. with a creepy name...

Tuesday Special

Here I sit, fresh out of the shower at 3:06 on a Tuesday afternoon. This particular Tuesday is a special Tuesday, though. Why is it special? No, not because I finally showered at 2:40 pm. No, not because I am dressed in real clothes for the first time since Sunday...

It's my honey-pie's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dustin, my love!!!

This man 'o' mine rocks my world. His ever-present, but varied in formation, facial hair is scruffy and rough, and I love it. He knows I love his ruggedness. And ruggedness is not just limited to his ruggedly-handsome looks.

He dresses rugged... no matter how I try to sharpen his style, he is who he is. I've stopped trying and just dress him as ruggedly-sharp as I can! (I do all his clothes shopping, so I can do this, you know.)

His walk is rugged. He tromps through this world with his heavy boots. Many who know him can identify him simply by hearing his footsteps.

His attitude is rugged. He bucks authority like a bull in a rodeo. He says what he thinks, often with a consequences-be-damned attitude.

And speaking of being damned... his language is often rugged.

But... like a rugged mountain peak, he too is not immune to the powers of erosion. The passing of time, and being wedded to someone not quite so rugged, has softened some of his rougher points. His language is softer, his impatience less sharp.

And, like any rugged mountain, he has his spots of softness as well... his moss-covered north side, if you will. He has always been, since I met him, tender and gentle with me, his wife. He adores me, and I him. He is as sweet a dad as I've ever seen with his beautiful children. Sometimes that rugged, rough side comes out in his father-role, but when it's tucked away, he's soft and tender with his little ones. He is friendly to others and makes people feel good being around him. He loves to serve and help people. (but not if his wife volunteers him for it without prior consultation!) Soft as a tree's mossy north face.

Happy Birthday to my mate, my partner in life, my love, my husband.

I love you, my rugged and soft man!

Dinner Is Not Cooked

It's 5:34 pm right now. Dustin is working late tonight... late-ish. I haven't cooked dinner and I'm blogging instead!

The truth of the matter is that I'm in pain right now and I can't easily stand up from this chair I sat in a few minutes ago. I have been having issues with the ligaments in my abdomen... I've read that it's the ones that hold up my uterus. Anyway, whatever they are, they have a tendency to get irritated and it feels like a severe side-ache... you know when you're running and you get a side-ache? It feels like that. And when it is bad, like it is at this moment, I have to sit still 'til it goes away because moving doubles me over.

Soo... that's my really good excuse for not having dinner cooked or even started at 5:34pm.

We went for a lovely visit over the weekend to Logan, UT... our former place of residence. We visited with our friends Jennie and Jared and Justin and Amy. We had a Halloween party of sorts, but mostly just visited and played.

Then the next day we went and visited with my lifelong friend, Beth and her family. Our kids got along swimmingly and were very sad to leave their friends that they see far too little of. They are still talking about "Eric" and how cute and funny he is. It was a good day and we were all sad to leave. Hopefully it won't be so long before we see all the friends we saw this weekend again.

I've been in sewing mode. Halloween is my favorite time of year to sew. I love to make my children costumes and watch them light up as they come to fruition.

Rohan is going to be a "mommy" this year. (Mummy, but he always says it like mommy, which confuses all the people who ask him what he's going to be for Halloween!) I am having so much fun making up his costume. It's rather tedious the way I'm doing it, but it's turning out great! I'm excited and so is he!

Mac will be a Grim Reaper and Ella, a little devil. They are all loving it and can't wait for the real deal.

I love Halloween and have so many fond memories of my mom helping us get all dressed up. She loved it too and always went "all out".

So, it's now 5:50 and my ligaments or whatever hurts is not hurting so much now, so I think I'll go make dinner!

Pontifications on Cereal

This is the 401st post on this little blog. Can you believe I had 401 things to say! Wow.

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

I am a cereal junkie. I love cereal. Yesterday I ate it for breakfast AND lunch. Very healthy choice, I must say.

I, unfortunately have also passed this love on to my children. I say unfortunately, but it's not entirely unfortunate. Just think if they didn't like cereal! I'd have to make them a real breakfast every morning. *gasp!* I struggle with making a real dinner at night. That would be problematic.

I will tell you what is unfortunate about this situation. Cereal is not the cheapest thing to eat for breakfast. Eggs would likely be cheaper. Oatmeal, definitely cheaper. I've thought I should define things a little bit regarding the cereal. I've thought I should tell the kids I will buy ___________ number of boxes per week and if they eat it all, then they don't get more until the next week. Good idea, huh? But the flaw in that plan is this: when the cereal runs out, there's one grown-up cereal junkie who has the power to run her little butt to the store and buy some more. And that is exactly what she does.

Post Cranberry Almond Crunch is my favorite, usually. I'm a big fan of Bran Flakes and Frosted Mini Wheats as well. Rice Chex, and Kix hit the spot. And with all of my pregnancies, Cheerios were my lifeline in the first trimester when sickness reigned and nothing sounded good.

Rohan lives for Life. Mac loves Special K. Ella will eat whatever suits her fancy that day, but she seems to ask for Frosted Mini Wheats the most.

I think we're winning Dustin over to the dark side. Together he and I will rule the cereal universe with our children. Although... Dustin loves Grape Nuts and they make his breath smell like dog food. If he eats them too much, I might have to destroy him. But, lucky for me (and him!), bwwaahahahaha, I'm the one who does the shopping!