Girlymama

Little Sister, handing me my bra as I’m getting dressed today:

“Here, Mommy, Here your boobs.”

soooooo excited for this one…

Its been a long week. Long. Tonight, it was take-out pizza on paper plates and kids to bed early. Now I’m off to take a bubble bath and go to bed. Yes, I know its only 8 o’clock. But thats just the kind of week its been. I know. I’m a party animal. Watch out.

More fun updates next week. Promise. We’re driving to Ohio to visit the fam and such, so I’m sure there’ll be lots of fun adventures-in-traveling-with-toddlers-on-the-busiest-travel-day-of-the-year to relate 😉

G’nite.

Today, just a few months late, Husband is having his annual review at work. We will find out… the raise.

This has been a mystery, building up for about 5 months now. The rumors are circulating (only 3%!), the cut-backs are happening (holiday party in the cafeteria? What??), we’re officially freaked out.  I am so nervous. I really want him to get a fantastic review. He’s worked super hard all year. He entered a completely new field. And the man who was too squimish to watch me get an epidural is now training surgeons! He’s done relaly well and I hope that this review is encouraging to him.  And that they pay him more. That would be nice. (Darn home repairs. Maybe his raise can be given in a Home Depot gift card? That’d be okay too.)

I’m not sure I’m going to make it….

I have a lot to say, but I’m too tired/busy/distracted to write it out legibly. So here’s some fun info about me that I’m sure you’re dying to know. Thanks, dcrmom.

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:You have medium extroversion.You’re not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your “down time.”Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You’re generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you’ve been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You’re generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed – making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there’s no way you’ll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Crazy weekend. Friday we went to a memorial service for our friend’s mom who recently died of cancer. It was a beautiful, beautiful service. I have lots of thoughts on what was said, but I’m only killing time until the clothes are out of the dryer, so I’ll write about that later.

Saturday we raked leaves. All. Day. Well, I raked, cleaned out flower beds, mulches and planted my mums. Husband blew leaves with the leaf blower he got for his birthday. Girls did their best to destroy any progress we made. They had fun though. Here’s a picture.* That afternoon, I gave Little Sister her first haircut. Her hair was about half way down her back in little ringlets. But it was, technically, a mullet. So it had to go. She looks ADORABLE!! See?? Saturday night Big Sister went to her first birthday party without her parents. She had a BLAST. Then we had an impromptu dinner with our good friends. Good times. But we kept our kids out waaaay too late and paid the price with very little sleep on Saturday night.

Sunday morning we woke up to find our yard once again covered in leaves. Fun! After church and the MLS soccer finals (terribly exciting… if you’re my husband, who lives for soccer.)  we moved back into the family room. That’s right. IT’S DONE!!! I promise, promise to post pictures soon. I have some before, during and after pictures to treat you with, but they’re on the other computer.

Tomorrow morning, I am speaking in front of about 70 women. And I have no clue what I am going to say. So I should  go work on that. Pray for me!

*This is my other blog. One that’s not really anonymous, mainly about my kids and read by my extended family. (Basically a highly edited version of my parenting comments on this blog 😉 But considering that only about 8 people read this one, I’m not too worried that you may find out my name *gasp!*

ummm…. its nice not to think…. 

1. Things that scare me: someone hurting my kids, car accidents
2. People who make me laugh: My husband, my kids, my friends
3.Things I hate the most: closed mindedness combined with ignorance, rudeness
4. Things I don’t understand: how I got so lucky, fractions
5.Things I’m doing right now: wasting time I could be sleeping
6.Things I want to do before I die: Live on a beach
7.Things I can do: multitask, obsessivly clean, function on very little sleep for days at a time
8. Ways to describe my personality: I hate that question… Friendly? I’m too tired to think
9. Things I can’t do: whistle, sing
10.Things I think you should listen to: kids giggling, your mom
11. Things you should never listen to: rap
12.Things I’d like to learn: how to knit, another language (like, really learn one!)
13.Favorite Foods: pizza, steak, any and all fruit
14.Beverages I drink regularly: coffee, coffee, water, skim milk, diet coke with cherry
14a. Beverages I’m trying not to drink regularly: carbonated beverages
15. Shows I watched as a kid: teenage mutant ninja turtles, lots of Disney channel, but mainly STAR WARS
16. Persons I am tagging: whoever wants to, go for it! I’m going to bed.

There are mice. In our house. Where we live. MICE.

We recently discovered that we share our living space with actual vermin. Me and my slightly-OCD-self is just thrilled about this. Last night my dear, heroic husband caught two in traps. And this morning he disposed of them. (I won’t get graphic, since I had to listen to it and was totally disgusted, but let’s just say that a shovel was involved….)

I am all about animal rights and stuff… until one of those adorable woodland creatures crosses the threshold of my home. Then all bets are off.  I’m almost done disinfecting the kitchen. I have not even had coffee yet, so strong was the urge to clean the kitchen. This is serious. 

At least its not a bat, like in our last house. Then I would have to move.

Someone found my blog by searching “why life is unromantic after marriage.” So, I had to know, what entry brought that up? It was this post. That post was totally talking about me being super excited for our date night. Whatever, Google! My life is full of romance. Well, not full of romance, but it does sneak in occasionally between laundry and home renovations 😉

Big Sister started preschool this fall and she now has friends. It is the sweetest thing. If you ask her “What is your favorite part about school?” She says “Playing with my friends.” (She gets that from me. If she took after her dad she would say, “Quantum Physics and Organic Chemistry, Mother!”)

I am so incredibly grateful that she has friends. I was so scared sending her off into the Big Bad World. Would kids be mean to her? Will her social skills be up to par? She really is quite smart. Will she be a *gasp* geek? I was truly nervous about all this. She can be a little awkward socially. Probably because she’s the oldest and I had a baby when she was 18 months old, so we didn’t leave the house much after that. (Little Sis, however, is the life of every party. Seriously. And she’s got a killer smile. And she’s fearless. This worries me.) Big Sister tends to not talk when people talk to her, be randomly clingy and “play” with big kids, meaning follow them around the church basement thinking she’s playing with them when in reality, she’s just following them around being a pest.

Anyhow, she has two friends, Evie and Keller. (Seriously, what’s with the trendy names, people? Can Big Sister still be cool even though her name is not Madison?) And on Friday, I got to hang out at school for a bit and meet them. And I was so relieved. Because her friends are cool.

Is that superficial? Or wrong or something? I was so happy that her friends are cute, normal looking kids. You know, not the class weirdos. (Hey. I taught in a preschool. There are still nerds and cool kids there.)  This gave me hope that maybe she’s not as weird as she can be at home. That she is well-adjusted socially, able to make nice friends. (Well, Keller’s mom drives a Hummer (insert eye roll here), but we won’t hold that against him. It’s not his fault, he’s only 3.)

We teach her to love others and to be a friend to everyone. We teach her that she when she loves others she is sharing God’s love and how we are lights in the world. Is this secret desire for her to “fit in” in conflict with that? I don’t want “popular” kids – you know those kids in high school. Shudder. But I do want healthy, well-adjusted, smart, friendly, normal kids. Does anyone else worry about stuff like this? Or am I just weird?