Miscellaneous, a Shameless Brag, and The Secret

Got signed up on Twitter. So far - I'm underwhelmed. We'll give it a little more time to grow on me.

Had my hair done today. Then when I bought my lottery and powerball tickets, the hunky little cashier asked me if I knew who Teri Hatcher was. "You know, the good lookin' one with brown hair on Desperate Housewives," he says. "Yes," I say. "Well, you look like her," he tells me.

!!!

Thanks, fella. Kinda needed that today~

Have been wishing for a new laptop. My computer keeps crashing when I try to balance my Quicken account. And I've been focusing on that Mercedes 450 GL I had my eye on a while back. The other day at the office, a shiny black one was parked right in front. Man, it looked sharp. I thought I wanted a red one until I saw one IRL, and it looks more burgundy than I care for. So I've decided I want the platinum colored one. The Secret tells me to visualize. So I have a vision of myself finding this humongous bag of cash in a parking lot or on the side of the road.

(insert smiley face here)

Tweeting?

It's hard to keep up. I thought I was running with the in crowd by having my own blog after deciding that I was a little old for myspace. Then a few friends invited me onto Facebook, and I felt connected and up to date - maybe even cool!

Then I heard last night on the local news that blogging is WAY OUT and Facebook is so yesterday. But tweeting is IN. The latest and greatest in computer socializing is something called Twitter.

Hmmm. I guess I better look into it unless I wanna look like an old fogey who's hopelessly out of date.

LMAO!

Acceptance

One month ago today, I had my miscarriage. There, I said the word. I found out I was pregnant on Valentine's Day, and five short days later, I lost the baby. Everything kept happening so fast--over and over I found myself accepting an new state of awareness . . . and then suddenly there was a different state to acknowledge, deal with, and accept. Intellectually and physically I am completely fine.

Emotionally, I finally think I've got it sorted out. I really don't think I was meant to have more than my one boy and my one girl, but it was both sad and painful to come to grips with the fact that while it might have been possible to have another child in our family, it wasn't in God's plan for me or us. Leaps of faith are quite difficult for me, but God already knows that since He made me who I am. For the first time, I'm viewing the experience not as a punishment but as an affirmation that God truly wants what is best for me. Even if I think a certain choice or path might be appropriate, once in a while He intervenes and I need to let Him.

When I am older and wiser, I will appreciate all the more how God has led me in the best direction. Until then, I'm being patient with the process. Sometimes you only get one choice because it's the right one.

Lordy, Lordy, Someone is 40

"He who shall not be named" has turned 40 today! Happy Birthday, Pookie!

Welcome to what we like to call the Middle Ages . . . . and just remember, 40 is the new 30!

:)

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009

Is it just me, or does this photo proclaim, "WE ARE SO SICK OF YOU TAKING PICTURES OF US!"

Sorry, kiddoes. It's a mother's prerogative to continue to do things that annoy you. Here is the consolation: When you're a parent, you can do it, too! ;-) I'm betting you'll enjoy it as much as I do, hehe.

Other musings:

***Caroline wore this same clover T-shirt on last St. Patrick's Day. I swear she has grown since then, but hey, if the shirt fits......

***This is my 200th post on the blog. Wowza!

***Today at work we all received an e-mail that was the mother of all work e-mails - totally Hall of Fame material. Due to confidentiality, I can't repost it here.....but I will go out on a limb to offer the following opinion: Poop is the great equalizer. That'll have to do.

The Power of Two

Once again, we are a TWO television family! Yay! Sam got this 32" JVC for a smokin' $70 - and just how fabulous does it look in our entertainment center? I know it's the smell of greedy with a whiff of selfish indulgence.....but I have so missed having a TV in the living room. :) After homework and story time, once again the kids and I can enjoy the last couple of rounds of Wheel of Fortune!

Magic Win Against Jazz 105-87

The kids' school gave them each a free Orlando Magic ticket when Dwight Howard visited the school to get everyone pumped up for the dreaded "FCAT." :)

So tonight we all went to the Amway Arena and watched them pummel the Utah Jazz. Their coach, Jerry Sloan, got off to a roaring start in the first quarter by arguing with the ref and getting himself tossed from the game. That set the tone for the game, and I don't think the Jazz ever had the lead during any of the quarters. The stands weren't too crowded, the fans were rowdy but not obnoxious, and even though the kids were a tiny bit bored by the end, it was a lot of fun.

I like the pictures except for the redeye, which I couldn't remove because the pictures won't open in my PSE 3.0 anymore. (And I was too tired to keep trying.)

Erma Bombeck

Anybody besides me remember how funny Erma Bombeck used to be? My mom had a couple of her books and I read them when I was in middle school. She had such a genuine sense of humor and was hilarious without using foul language or crass situations. She talked a lot about David Susskind (a talk show host, apparently) and all the things she could do with pink plastic clothesline. Too damn funny.

Today as I was vacuuming, I had an Erma Bombeck moment. I picked up one of Caroline's shoes and stuck the end of the vacuum cleaner hose into it to suck out the sand instead of dumping the shoe out into the trash can. It was SO much faster! I accomplished this feat without one whit of Suzie Homemaker guilt or even a second thought, really. Oh, I'm sure somewhere June Cleaver and Carol Brady are clutching their pearls and gasping for breath. But I didn't waste too much time thinking about that..... instead I laughed at how Erma probably had done the same many times.

Other books my mom had that I enjoyed were written by Helen Gurley Brown (one of my all time favorite writers and life gurus) and Phyllis Diller. Both women had a wicked sense of humor!

I learned a lot from all these funny gals. Life is short; laughing makes it way more enjoyable. And the sooner the vacuuming is done, the better.

Oversaturated

A few things I'm tired of seeing and/or hearing about:

• Stimulus packages
• TV and radio commercials doing their version of "sales" by copying the stimulus package
• Anything having to do with the stock market
• Taylor Swift
• Rihanna & Chris Brown
• "Octu-Mom"
• Dating reality shows
• 3G i-Phones
• Deals on new cars
• Dr. Phil
• Mr. Madoff

I'm not going to put any "labels" on this post because I don't want anyone Googling anything on this list anymore.

Ok, I feel so much better now. :)

The Peace of Wild Things

It's a little strange to think that my dad passed away four years ago today. I don't like remembering the date of someone's death; rather, I like to remember them on their birthday as it seems a happier memory. One of the tiny burdens of my tendencies towards OCD, I guess, is that rarely can I forget the dates about anything.

When Alan Alda guest starred on the TV Show "ER," his dying character recited the following poem. I have no idea if my dad ever read it, heard of it, or would've liked it. But I like it, and it reminds me of him. I'm sorry to say I don't know if he's at peace wherever he may be - but I hope he is.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~Wendell Berry