I realized that if I want to keep up my writing skillz, I have to keep writing. So here is yet another post. As you should know, an assertive adult will not read this if they don't care. Not complain that I talk about myself too much. And that is a showing of my lack of confidence in what I do and a fear of the unknown, not a comment on any actual person.
Blah blah blah.
WHAT!? Lilly just put her new colored pencils away in the box they came in! I am always surprised at how amazing she is. They aren't all in there and I think she stuck them in through the window, not the top of the box. She also tried to eat the red and blue ones.
The Fremont Cinemas is holding a Super Fantasy Festival in May. Costumes encouraged. There are only 110 tickets, so I called today to get information. It's two days, but we can only financially and timewise afford one day. Yet, we can't buy the tickets because the schedule is not posted on the website. http://www.superfantasyfest.com/ One of the activities listed is a Magic The Gathering Card Game Tournament, or just Magic Tournament if you play. That's definitely what Josh and I want to do, so I called them up to see what day it is and what the rules are. There are several types of tournaments. Well, turns out, I'm much more nerdy than the kids working there and probably helping out with the Fantasy Fest. The first girl didn't know much about it at all. No big deal. I knew I was asking picky questions. I wanted to know if it was a draft tournament, or if we brought our own cards. We bring our own cards. Then I wanted to know if we can only bring cards from the last/current set. No...we can bring any cards we want to "do battle". How I wish all of you played Magic, so you would understand the full impact of that sentence. One, I do not "do battle", I dominate! Once you see me, you might as well go home. Second, this can't be an official tournament (you can get nationally ranked, etc. b/c they do track official tournaments all over the country/world(?)). By saying you can bring any cards, people are not truly playing on a fair and same playing field. Josh and I would kick butts of anyone knew to the game as we've been collecting for over 10 years...we've got all the sweet cards and can build tournament illegal decks and use cards that are generally band from play because they are too good. Many of our Magic friends would kick our butts because they put money into buying the extra awesome cards to build impossible to beat Mill Decks. Or cat decks, or vampire decks. Someday I'm going to build a rat deck. It's just going to be Mana and rats. Chittering Rats. Mwa HA HA HA! That's totally not legal...you can't have more than 4 of the same type of card in your deck. Lands don't count.
Soooo...I hope there's money to be won at this tournament. I have a kick ass green deck. Or maybe I should bring Ack Attack...a red and white deck that rules the same way Ackbar does.
Finally, I asked on my phone call when the schedule would be posted online. I was told it probably already was. *Eye Roll* As a magic nerd, phone calls and personal interaction is not my strong point. Of course I checked out the website first...if it was all there as it should be, I wouldn't have needed to call them.
Next order of business is to figure out which fantasy figure Josh and I will dress up as.
Uh oh. Lilly has her boots on and her mittens and her coat and hat are by her feet. I suspect it's time to go outside.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Saturday, March 21, 2015
My Head Has A Fin, I Am A Shark. A Land Shark.
Okay. Yesterday was Josh's first day off for the weekend. The plan was to stay home and clean and play with Lilly and maybe get a project done. Maybe. Then, before I even properly woke up, only because it was my day to sleep in, I got three texts. From my mom. I of course did not know this until I did wake up and check. But the dinging did help me wake up sooner than later. Who's texting me???? Her computer got a virus and is super old, like 7 years old with Vista still. To me, this virus was a good thing. Too her, not so much. We went over there so Josh could clear out the millions of programs the virus installed the day before, slowing down their internet and using up there data. That's the worst of all the things you could do in that house. Even worse than putting a cup on the harvest table. Even worse than walking through the house with muddy shoes on. Even worse than using up the hot water before I shower.
Josh fixed it up so that the computer is usable until her new one arrives! Yes, he also helped pick out and order my mom a new computer. He even remembered to have my dad google for discount codes (retailmenot.com is best for this) and got 15% off the order. I love surprise saving money.
Lilly loved going over there. We went for a walk to the mailbox. She rode in the wagon out there and then walked the 1/2 mile back all on her own. She is a busy little girl! She helped me fill out my March Madness Bracket and she chased Ackbar around a little bit. But then he went outside because he is not a fan of high pitched children. Oh, and I helped by filling out my mom's form for Publisher's Clearing House. I've been doing that since I was capable of filling out forms.
In the evening, Josh and Lilly and I dressed up nicely and toured the Fremont Business Expo. We went in the evening in hopes that it would be less busy compared to today. I think we made the right choice. Josh and I like to sit and talk to every booth and learn about what they are selling and get their free stuff. We scored a magnet chip clip bag, stickers for the new Fremont Brewery called Brew Works of Fremont. They have a silhouette of the farm co-op as their picture. I love it. I signed up to volunteer with the Historical Museum and got the ladies at the booth to like me. A lot. They had this weird old thing and the game was to guess what it was. It says Vul-Kit on it, so that's what I said it was. Duh. They thought it was Hilarious. Josh got the ladies at the Sprint Booth to love him and he also succeeded at the bank and insurance places too. Basically where ever there were women because they love him. I just realized he was holding Lilly too. It's a deadly combination.
I was ignored at the recycling booth and the Smart Energy booth too. The two booths I was most interested in chatting at. I was judged and deemed not really interested or knowledgable. I was engaged at the Sprout Lab booth, and the lady was really excited to talk to me about it. They are a non-profit (I THINK) from GVSU, that works with start up businesses and helping entrepreneurs get started. She was happy that I read about them in the paper and had an active interest in it. There were two or three Amish booths selling farming equipment and metal roofing. I like seeing the Amish being involved in the community. They should be...they make up much of the community. All of the shopping areas (even Walmart) have special areas for them to tie up their buggies.
I want to discuss the Smart Energy Booth. The guy is just starting up the business, and when I asked what sort of info would I get if I put my email on the list, he couldn't really answer that because he hadn't thought it fully through yet. He does wind, solar, energy audits, LED lighting and other green energy stuff, everything I researched and worked with at my old job. Anyways, he had no use for a person who looked like me, so I moved on. When were leaving, I saw his truck in the parking lot...I knew it was his because it had SMART ENERGY written on the side. It was his work truck to represent his brand of Green Energy Selling. It was a giant truck on lifts with great big exhaust things that stuck up behind the cab. That vehicle is the least green environmental vehicle I've ever seen! I don't understand. Does he or does he not stand behind what he is selling? It was an obnoxious tricked out truck that you would dislike anyways, and then it says Smart Energy on the side! It seems like an oxymoron to me.
I saw only one person I knew. She used to work at the school when I was in high school. I wasn't going to say anything because I never had her as a teacher, I was just kinda friends with her daughters (both in different grades than me). She looked at me, said "Oh hi! One of my former students." then ran away from me. Ugh. I wish we had just mutually not acknowledged each other. I was not a former student, and if I did talk to her, I would have only wanted to know about her daughters and not talk about myself. So, once again, my reaction was judged and shut down before I had a chance to make my own choice. It's irritating, but I'm not taking it personally. I didn't want to make chitchat as badly as she didn't want to, too.
Today Lilly got mad because she couldn't get a sock to fit on her head like a hat. She loves hats. I put the toilet paper roll cozy on her head instead.
Trout Steak Revival (best bluegrass band ever) will be at Founder's on April 11. See you there or you be square. I just got my Kickstarter gift of hat, shirt, cd, and sweet poster! I hung that baby up immediately. And yes they are awesome, and I am friends with all the members! I use the word friends loosely. :) I have met and post show partied with them far more than once though, in Denver, dressed as a land shark.
Which made me realize, I've spent two of my Halloweens in Denver! It's my favorite inland city.
Josh fixed it up so that the computer is usable until her new one arrives! Yes, he also helped pick out and order my mom a new computer. He even remembered to have my dad google for discount codes (retailmenot.com is best for this) and got 15% off the order. I love surprise saving money.
Lilly loved going over there. We went for a walk to the mailbox. She rode in the wagon out there and then walked the 1/2 mile back all on her own. She is a busy little girl! She helped me fill out my March Madness Bracket and she chased Ackbar around a little bit. But then he went outside because he is not a fan of high pitched children. Oh, and I helped by filling out my mom's form for Publisher's Clearing House. I've been doing that since I was capable of filling out forms.
In the evening, Josh and Lilly and I dressed up nicely and toured the Fremont Business Expo. We went in the evening in hopes that it would be less busy compared to today. I think we made the right choice. Josh and I like to sit and talk to every booth and learn about what they are selling and get their free stuff. We scored a magnet chip clip bag, stickers for the new Fremont Brewery called Brew Works of Fremont. They have a silhouette of the farm co-op as their picture. I love it. I signed up to volunteer with the Historical Museum and got the ladies at the booth to like me. A lot. They had this weird old thing and the game was to guess what it was. It says Vul-Kit on it, so that's what I said it was. Duh. They thought it was Hilarious. Josh got the ladies at the Sprint Booth to love him and he also succeeded at the bank and insurance places too. Basically where ever there were women because they love him. I just realized he was holding Lilly too. It's a deadly combination.
I was ignored at the recycling booth and the Smart Energy booth too. The two booths I was most interested in chatting at. I was judged and deemed not really interested or knowledgable. I was engaged at the Sprout Lab booth, and the lady was really excited to talk to me about it. They are a non-profit (I THINK) from GVSU, that works with start up businesses and helping entrepreneurs get started. She was happy that I read about them in the paper and had an active interest in it. There were two or three Amish booths selling farming equipment and metal roofing. I like seeing the Amish being involved in the community. They should be...they make up much of the community. All of the shopping areas (even Walmart) have special areas for them to tie up their buggies.
I want to discuss the Smart Energy Booth. The guy is just starting up the business, and when I asked what sort of info would I get if I put my email on the list, he couldn't really answer that because he hadn't thought it fully through yet. He does wind, solar, energy audits, LED lighting and other green energy stuff, everything I researched and worked with at my old job. Anyways, he had no use for a person who looked like me, so I moved on. When were leaving, I saw his truck in the parking lot...I knew it was his because it had SMART ENERGY written on the side. It was his work truck to represent his brand of Green Energy Selling. It was a giant truck on lifts with great big exhaust things that stuck up behind the cab. That vehicle is the least green environmental vehicle I've ever seen! I don't understand. Does he or does he not stand behind what he is selling? It was an obnoxious tricked out truck that you would dislike anyways, and then it says Smart Energy on the side! It seems like an oxymoron to me.
I saw only one person I knew. She used to work at the school when I was in high school. I wasn't going to say anything because I never had her as a teacher, I was just kinda friends with her daughters (both in different grades than me). She looked at me, said "Oh hi! One of my former students." then ran away from me. Ugh. I wish we had just mutually not acknowledged each other. I was not a former student, and if I did talk to her, I would have only wanted to know about her daughters and not talk about myself. So, once again, my reaction was judged and shut down before I had a chance to make my own choice. It's irritating, but I'm not taking it personally. I didn't want to make chitchat as badly as she didn't want to, too.
Today Lilly got mad because she couldn't get a sock to fit on her head like a hat. She loves hats. I put the toilet paper roll cozy on her head instead.
Trout Steak Revival (best bluegrass band ever) will be at Founder's on April 11. See you there or you be square. I just got my Kickstarter gift of hat, shirt, cd, and sweet poster! I hung that baby up immediately. And yes they are awesome, and I am friends with all the members! I use the word friends loosely. :) I have met and post show partied with them far more than once though, in Denver, dressed as a land shark.
Which made me realize, I've spent two of my Halloweens in Denver! It's my favorite inland city.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Random Occurances
My thoughts never seem to gather and collect when I sit down to write any more. I have thoughts all day, every day of what I want to say, but when it comes to spitting them out, they just fly away. They say to just keep writing anyways, so that's what I'll do. Unfortunately for you, you get a list of random thoughts instead of a well connected paragraphed post to read.
1. Lilly chose to sit in her booster seat this morning. She wants to sit and eat now. She sits on the chair and says "Sit". We spent the day shopping with Auntie Mandy yesterday. I think Lilly fell in love with Mandy. When Mandy sat down to eat, Lilly wanted to sit down too! She also didn't want to pick up her egg salad sandwich because she might get egg salad on her hands. Really?!? All she does is eat with her hands. Forks and spoons are just for fun until she gets impatient. Josh says she must have been wanting to be on her best behavior.
2. When I say shopping, I mean, we went to Cabela's and fought with other women to get service so we could try on shoes. I wanted hiking shoes (not boots, shoes) and they were having a sale on those. They were so busy! I only tried on 4 shoes, but it took 1.5 hrs b/c I had to go find a person each time to get me the right size.
3. Okay, here is the good story of what happened. You have the background, Cabela's is having a big spring sale, they even had booths of food to sample and someone trying to sign people up for credit cards. I think it was busier than they expected. There was an ad in the paper saying they were selling $74 hiking shoes for $34.
There was one lady who we mutually didn't see each other and backed up into each other. That made a connection and we were friends. Also, because Lilly is around and I have to talk to her and keep her from "helping" the other people try on shoes, it makes me seem approachable. I had a tall guy helping me (turns out he didn't even work there, he was just a shoe rep), and she had a short young guy helping her. Now, I should say, despite all the craziness, these were the NICEST shoe helping workers ever. All were polite and happy and excited. Except the manager. He was your typical unhelpful douchebaggy manager. Anyways, I heard my lady friend say she wanted to find the pair of shoes in the ad. The guy said he didn't see the ad, so he couldn't help her. Then, later, she wanted to find the different sizes of the next cheapest pair of shoes. He said that those shoes were in boxes in stacked in the middle. I already went through this for those shoes and told her they were in the middle walkway and there was only like 6 shoes boxes left. It was a small hard to find stack. That woman was so annoyed at the lack of service and how that kid couldn't find her what she needed. And I agreed...the workers (him) wasn't properly prepped for the day. But chances are, he never worked in the shoe dept. before.
Then the woman left. Probably in a huff. She left her boxes of shoes laying open and around everywhere. The young man came up and was hurt that she didn't help put the shoes away, and said "She didn't even say goodbye!" And that just broke my heart. And I jumped ships and completely agreed with him too. They were both right, but poor at communication.
So when I left, I talked to the girl who didn't help me (only because I always got the tall guys' attention first), but she was super friendly and had chatted with me while I waited. I told her to tell the tall guy I said thank you for all his help. Since I couldn't say goodbye and all. (I was hungry, tired, with a similar feeling sister and toddler, I wasn't going to spend forever looking for this guy to just say goodbye).
I did get a pair of shoes. They are just okay. Nothing bad about them and they are cuter, but I think there is another pair that was more comfortable/better for hiking. They didn't have my size there though, so I can't be sure. I might order them and try them on and then return one pair. But that's work. I have to think about it.
The cheapest pair there was Hi-Tec, which is my favorite hiking boot brand. For price, comfort and durability. Unfortunately, with my robot ankle the screws get in the way, and the hi-top boots rubbed against them causing me pain in the ankle. They were easily the best pair, except that I can't wear hi tops any more. I wonder if I could get the screws removed. Maybe in 5 to 10 years. When I CAN be off my feet for a long time and not have to chase babies.
4. I went to a friend's baby shower this week too. I brought Lilly because I didn't know better yet. It was at an amazing house. It was HUGE. I can't emphasize this enough. The master bathroom (I was nosey and peeked when Lilly ran into the bed room (coat room)), is bigger than Lilly's bed room. I think the main room (kitchen/family room area) is the size of my house. And it was open with vaulted cealings and and a nice wood floor and nice carpet area, and clean and free of clutter. Lilly LOVED it. She ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and spun in circles, and ran, and ran, and ran and didn't sit still for two hours straight. And I had to chase her the entire time. I felt the next day like I had ran 10 miles. And I have before, so I know. Now I know I can't bring her to these type of things unless I have a "sitter" with me to tag team. Not until she's grown out of this stage.
Disclaimer: The house was built by the family. They have a very excellent contractor in the family.
5. I woke up with Josh today at 5am, and it was horrible. I told him it was like waking up to go to the airport super early. He said, yeah, only I do that everyday. I was so sad for him! He was also telling me this story of how the equipment at work went down for 6 hrs and how it kept on having problems and not working. Silly me, I thought that was most of the day. No. He followed the story up with, we ran for 5 hours first really well. And I realized just how long 12 hrs is!
I suppose that's it. I need a coffee refill and I'm suppose to be cleaning the house today.
1. Lilly chose to sit in her booster seat this morning. She wants to sit and eat now. She sits on the chair and says "Sit". We spent the day shopping with Auntie Mandy yesterday. I think Lilly fell in love with Mandy. When Mandy sat down to eat, Lilly wanted to sit down too! She also didn't want to pick up her egg salad sandwich because she might get egg salad on her hands. Really?!? All she does is eat with her hands. Forks and spoons are just for fun until she gets impatient. Josh says she must have been wanting to be on her best behavior.
2. When I say shopping, I mean, we went to Cabela's and fought with other women to get service so we could try on shoes. I wanted hiking shoes (not boots, shoes) and they were having a sale on those. They were so busy! I only tried on 4 shoes, but it took 1.5 hrs b/c I had to go find a person each time to get me the right size.
3. Okay, here is the good story of what happened. You have the background, Cabela's is having a big spring sale, they even had booths of food to sample and someone trying to sign people up for credit cards. I think it was busier than they expected. There was an ad in the paper saying they were selling $74 hiking shoes for $34.
There was one lady who we mutually didn't see each other and backed up into each other. That made a connection and we were friends. Also, because Lilly is around and I have to talk to her and keep her from "helping" the other people try on shoes, it makes me seem approachable. I had a tall guy helping me (turns out he didn't even work there, he was just a shoe rep), and she had a short young guy helping her. Now, I should say, despite all the craziness, these were the NICEST shoe helping workers ever. All were polite and happy and excited. Except the manager. He was your typical unhelpful douchebaggy manager. Anyways, I heard my lady friend say she wanted to find the pair of shoes in the ad. The guy said he didn't see the ad, so he couldn't help her. Then, later, she wanted to find the different sizes of the next cheapest pair of shoes. He said that those shoes were in boxes in stacked in the middle. I already went through this for those shoes and told her they were in the middle walkway and there was only like 6 shoes boxes left. It was a small hard to find stack. That woman was so annoyed at the lack of service and how that kid couldn't find her what she needed. And I agreed...the workers (him) wasn't properly prepped for the day. But chances are, he never worked in the shoe dept. before.
Then the woman left. Probably in a huff. She left her boxes of shoes laying open and around everywhere. The young man came up and was hurt that she didn't help put the shoes away, and said "She didn't even say goodbye!" And that just broke my heart. And I jumped ships and completely agreed with him too. They were both right, but poor at communication.
So when I left, I talked to the girl who didn't help me (only because I always got the tall guys' attention first), but she was super friendly and had chatted with me while I waited. I told her to tell the tall guy I said thank you for all his help. Since I couldn't say goodbye and all. (I was hungry, tired, with a similar feeling sister and toddler, I wasn't going to spend forever looking for this guy to just say goodbye).
I did get a pair of shoes. They are just okay. Nothing bad about them and they are cuter, but I think there is another pair that was more comfortable/better for hiking. They didn't have my size there though, so I can't be sure. I might order them and try them on and then return one pair. But that's work. I have to think about it.
The cheapest pair there was Hi-Tec, which is my favorite hiking boot brand. For price, comfort and durability. Unfortunately, with my robot ankle the screws get in the way, and the hi-top boots rubbed against them causing me pain in the ankle. They were easily the best pair, except that I can't wear hi tops any more. I wonder if I could get the screws removed. Maybe in 5 to 10 years. When I CAN be off my feet for a long time and not have to chase babies.
4. I went to a friend's baby shower this week too. I brought Lilly because I didn't know better yet. It was at an amazing house. It was HUGE. I can't emphasize this enough. The master bathroom (I was nosey and peeked when Lilly ran into the bed room (coat room)), is bigger than Lilly's bed room. I think the main room (kitchen/family room area) is the size of my house. And it was open with vaulted cealings and and a nice wood floor and nice carpet area, and clean and free of clutter. Lilly LOVED it. She ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and spun in circles, and ran, and ran, and ran and didn't sit still for two hours straight. And I had to chase her the entire time. I felt the next day like I had ran 10 miles. And I have before, so I know. Now I know I can't bring her to these type of things unless I have a "sitter" with me to tag team. Not until she's grown out of this stage.
Disclaimer: The house was built by the family. They have a very excellent contractor in the family.
5. I woke up with Josh today at 5am, and it was horrible. I told him it was like waking up to go to the airport super early. He said, yeah, only I do that everyday. I was so sad for him! He was also telling me this story of how the equipment at work went down for 6 hrs and how it kept on having problems and not working. Silly me, I thought that was most of the day. No. He followed the story up with, we ran for 5 hours first really well. And I realized just how long 12 hrs is!
I suppose that's it. I need a coffee refill and I'm suppose to be cleaning the house today.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Slow Flooding
What a Monday.
It's only 10:00am. And it just keeps getting messier. All I want to do is clean the house, because it's dirty and messy.
Before 8:30, Lilly had two melt downs because she is not a baby any more. She is closer to 2 yrs old than 1yr old. I think one was because she was hungry? I'm not sure. I was offering her all the food she likes, including a donut piece. There was no making her happy or getting her off the floor. Then 20 min later she had a melt down because I kicked her out of the bathroom. Because the toilet was overflowing everywhere and she wanted to walk in it.
And it's -15 degrees out.
She's dirty too because she's terrified of sitting in the bath. Terrified. Will not sit down. Will not bath. We think because she poops in the tub a lot and it scares her. She is afraid of pooping in the tub so she won't take a bath.
So this morning I showed her where the poop goes, with example. Just a normal one. Not a giant freaky toilet plugging one. She flushed the toilet herself and it worked, for the first time. So, she just held the handle down for a long time and the toilet drained very very slowly. So we had to wait to flush it again. Which caused her to cry. Then we flushed it again and it sorta went down slowly and was gone. No big deal. So I got out the plunger to be safe, only it's a stupid plunger that won't get a suction formed. It came with the house, fyi. I flushed it again, because that's my personal fault. I can't stop flushing, even when I should. And it wouldn't go down! It overflowed...luckly just clean water, because as I said, the toilet was empty. This was not a repeat of the incident when I failed to flush the kitty litter down right and kitty litter poop overflowed. Thank goodness.
Now why won't the toilet flush? Was it because Lilly held the handle down too long? Is it because it did just plug it up? Is it because it's -15 out and there is ice/clog somewhere in the line? Is it because the line is just plain clogged? The other day the shower didn't drain fast and that is not normal. Normally it drains fast and normal like. I know because it's the first place I've lived where it does that. I know because I cut my hair short to prevent a slow bathtub drain. I know because we have a hair trap too. But for no reason I can discern, the tub drained slow. And a few weeks ago the basement drain was backing up when the washer drained out too. So, now I'm afraid to shower/wash laundry/flush the toilet.
Good good. This helps with the whole cleaning the house thing. Not.
Then, while I was doing the dishes, I thought Lilly was being a good girl. I should have known better. She found a green permanent marker I had left on the table and colored her face and the table.
Good, more to clean. Luckly, she didn't open the hand lotion she was shaking up when I did find her.
Two weeks ago, I went in to our insurance agent, State Farm with Betty Mousal, and I had to talk to Betty herself. I was nervous because I got the feeling from all her employees that people try not to talk to her. But, our renters insurance does not cover flooding and I want flood insurance b/c of backing up drains! So, the only way to get that I was told was through getting actual flood insurance. Only the only person who can talk to me about that is Betty. So I made the appointment. I went in, and she judged me! She gave me a dirty look b/c I was trying to get flood insurance for a problem that I know is there. I should, apparently, have it fixed...not try to get insurance. And flood insurance does not cover backed up drains, the flood has to come from three sources. That was the first 5 minutes. Then she spent the next 45 min ignoring my polite declines for life insurance and gave me the hard sell on it. I DON"T WANT LIFE INSURANCE AND I DON"T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU TRY TO SELL IT TO ME BASED SOLELY ON THE ONE FACT THAT I AM A STAY AT HOME MOM! Especially since Josh has it through his work. She tried to play off her percieved notion that I'm super worried about what will happen to me or my family if Josh or I were to die. I'm not worried. I'll figure it out. Also, I do not need 350,000$ of coverage, which is what she was trying to sell me. And everytime I would say no thanks, she would just stair at me for a while and then try a new tactic. I'm pissed. I have no control of my sewer lines....I'm renting! Isn't that what renter's insurance is for? Next, I didn't have time to go to walmart with my family after that because she wasted it all. I am taking my business elsewhere. That's how much she pissed me off.
And I'm not covered for flood insurance and my house is slowly flooding.
And Josh has to work 7 days in a row this week.
I'm now going to go mop the bathroom floor.
It's only 10:00am. And it just keeps getting messier. All I want to do is clean the house, because it's dirty and messy.
Before 8:30, Lilly had two melt downs because she is not a baby any more. She is closer to 2 yrs old than 1yr old. I think one was because she was hungry? I'm not sure. I was offering her all the food she likes, including a donut piece. There was no making her happy or getting her off the floor. Then 20 min later she had a melt down because I kicked her out of the bathroom. Because the toilet was overflowing everywhere and she wanted to walk in it.
And it's -15 degrees out.
She's dirty too because she's terrified of sitting in the bath. Terrified. Will not sit down. Will not bath. We think because she poops in the tub a lot and it scares her. She is afraid of pooping in the tub so she won't take a bath.
So this morning I showed her where the poop goes, with example. Just a normal one. Not a giant freaky toilet plugging one. She flushed the toilet herself and it worked, for the first time. So, she just held the handle down for a long time and the toilet drained very very slowly. So we had to wait to flush it again. Which caused her to cry. Then we flushed it again and it sorta went down slowly and was gone. No big deal. So I got out the plunger to be safe, only it's a stupid plunger that won't get a suction formed. It came with the house, fyi. I flushed it again, because that's my personal fault. I can't stop flushing, even when I should. And it wouldn't go down! It overflowed...luckly just clean water, because as I said, the toilet was empty. This was not a repeat of the incident when I failed to flush the kitty litter down right and kitty litter poop overflowed. Thank goodness.
Now why won't the toilet flush? Was it because Lilly held the handle down too long? Is it because it did just plug it up? Is it because it's -15 out and there is ice/clog somewhere in the line? Is it because the line is just plain clogged? The other day the shower didn't drain fast and that is not normal. Normally it drains fast and normal like. I know because it's the first place I've lived where it does that. I know because I cut my hair short to prevent a slow bathtub drain. I know because we have a hair trap too. But for no reason I can discern, the tub drained slow. And a few weeks ago the basement drain was backing up when the washer drained out too. So, now I'm afraid to shower/wash laundry/flush the toilet.
Good good. This helps with the whole cleaning the house thing. Not.
Then, while I was doing the dishes, I thought Lilly was being a good girl. I should have known better. She found a green permanent marker I had left on the table and colored her face and the table.
Good, more to clean. Luckly, she didn't open the hand lotion she was shaking up when I did find her.
Two weeks ago, I went in to our insurance agent, State Farm with Betty Mousal, and I had to talk to Betty herself. I was nervous because I got the feeling from all her employees that people try not to talk to her. But, our renters insurance does not cover flooding and I want flood insurance b/c of backing up drains! So, the only way to get that I was told was through getting actual flood insurance. Only the only person who can talk to me about that is Betty. So I made the appointment. I went in, and she judged me! She gave me a dirty look b/c I was trying to get flood insurance for a problem that I know is there. I should, apparently, have it fixed...not try to get insurance. And flood insurance does not cover backed up drains, the flood has to come from three sources. That was the first 5 minutes. Then she spent the next 45 min ignoring my polite declines for life insurance and gave me the hard sell on it. I DON"T WANT LIFE INSURANCE AND I DON"T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU TRY TO SELL IT TO ME BASED SOLELY ON THE ONE FACT THAT I AM A STAY AT HOME MOM! Especially since Josh has it through his work. She tried to play off her percieved notion that I'm super worried about what will happen to me or my family if Josh or I were to die. I'm not worried. I'll figure it out. Also, I do not need 350,000$ of coverage, which is what she was trying to sell me. And everytime I would say no thanks, she would just stair at me for a while and then try a new tactic. I'm pissed. I have no control of my sewer lines....I'm renting! Isn't that what renter's insurance is for? Next, I didn't have time to go to walmart with my family after that because she wasted it all. I am taking my business elsewhere. That's how much she pissed me off.
And I'm not covered for flood insurance and my house is slowly flooding.
And Josh has to work 7 days in a row this week.
I'm now going to go mop the bathroom floor.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Freakmont: My Favorite Place
I love my town. I love it because it is small. I love it because they value local commerce. I love it because I can do all of my errands and remain on one road. I love it because I can build a relationship with each person I see on my errands.
Currently I am working (still) on getting to know the baggers at Bill's Shop and Save. I found this great book/directory at my State Farm Insurance that lists demographics of Fremont and all there is to do here and such. Bill's is the 12th largest employer. Gerbers is the largest. I had wondered about that because so many people work at Bill's as a regular job, not just as a summer job or an in-between job. People stay there! One of my favorite baggers, Nate, says that he is working 3 jobs and going ot school to become a Neuro Scientist. Isn't that amazing!? He said he missed the normal starting time for college...like he didn't go right away after high school. But I think he only missed it by 2 or 3 years. He's still so young.
I go to Bill's during their off-times when it is empty. Lilly likes to push the cart around. When I pick out the meat, I tell her to stand by the cart because I don't want her playing with the raw meat packages. (Derpa derpa). Last time, she got mad (she was previously PISSED because I would not give in to her demands for donuts...my sweet girl), and pushed the cart away from me. She pushed it the rest of the way across the store. The meat man and other shoppers laughed and thought it was so cute. And it was. Everyone loves Lilly at Bill's. She loves to go there.
So enough gushing about the grocery store. (Guess where I get to go today too!?)
I also love our weekly newspaper for the county. It's more of a place to advertise events that are going to happen, discuss what the students in the schools are doing, and a place for the community to brag about their accomplishments. There's a section where if you travel somewhere and take a picture of you with the Times Indicator on your travels, they'll post it in the paper. Then there's all the births, divorces, arrests and court appearances, who made the honor lists in college, graduating college, birthday and anniversary milestones, and so on. Lilly's already been in the paper once.
There is a big controversy going on in the editorials for the past month. One guy, I guess, I missed this letter, said that if we are a good community and decent and the Christians that we say we are, we would not allow Fifty Shades of Grey to come to our theater and wouldn't allow anyone to see it. There have been two responses in the last two weeks that are well written, not offensive, and discuss the Constitution, Freedom of Speech and trusting our forefathers and the government....all while saying that they themselves will not be seeing the movie and hope that their grown daughters don't see it either. I am so proud that our community loves the Constitution and sticks up for it and other's rights to choose what they want.
On a different note, I saw a speaker yesterday, who's husband is a judge for the county, who rights children's stories to bring them closer to Christ, etc. She travels the world and gives talks. This sentence came out:
"There are demons out there and especially in those foreign places."
She seemed to believe that the foreign places are more dangerous and less Christian and more demonic, and I truly think she meant actual demons, than the USA. Demons aside, that is not true. There are places that are just as terrible here as there are anywhere else, and there are places in foreign countries that are just as "good" as here. I'm a terrible mission worker. I'd rather fight for the poor and the "demonic" in the USA, my home, than giving my time and money away to other countries. aka those damn foreigners. *sarcasm*
She used the word "foreign" more than once, and I thought it was just a poor choice of words. Which is odd, this woman is GOOD at public speaking. She ooooozes charisma and the ability to make people feel, deep down feel, what she is saying. THat's why she's so good at converting people to Christ. You know she thinks about each word she uses and picks it for a reason. So why choose Foreign? I think there is a prejudice there. She's setting us up to be us vs. them. Americans vs those savage demonic foreigners.
The best I can do as to why she is doing this is because she mentioned that she was assaulted on one of her trips. Assaulted. That's a vague word. Physically? Mentally? Sexually? It says that something bad happened but does not say what. But if it was that bad, she is possibly harboring some residual anger and issues towards those outsiders that hurt her. And I pray for her that she can heal and let go of that anger. By using such a word as foreigner, she is passively and subtly making them the bad guy and telling everyone that they hurt her and she's pissed, but she's not actually saying anything that can prove that this.
You know what bothers me the most about all of this conversation. The casual way we discuss and praise converting people to Christ. Ugh. Can't we bring them Christ and then let him do the rest of the work? Isn't that what faith is? Did I mention I'm a terrible missionary.
Currently I am working (still) on getting to know the baggers at Bill's Shop and Save. I found this great book/directory at my State Farm Insurance that lists demographics of Fremont and all there is to do here and such. Bill's is the 12th largest employer. Gerbers is the largest. I had wondered about that because so many people work at Bill's as a regular job, not just as a summer job or an in-between job. People stay there! One of my favorite baggers, Nate, says that he is working 3 jobs and going ot school to become a Neuro Scientist. Isn't that amazing!? He said he missed the normal starting time for college...like he didn't go right away after high school. But I think he only missed it by 2 or 3 years. He's still so young.
I go to Bill's during their off-times when it is empty. Lilly likes to push the cart around. When I pick out the meat, I tell her to stand by the cart because I don't want her playing with the raw meat packages. (Derpa derpa). Last time, she got mad (she was previously PISSED because I would not give in to her demands for donuts...my sweet girl), and pushed the cart away from me. She pushed it the rest of the way across the store. The meat man and other shoppers laughed and thought it was so cute. And it was. Everyone loves Lilly at Bill's. She loves to go there.
So enough gushing about the grocery store. (Guess where I get to go today too!?)
I also love our weekly newspaper for the county. It's more of a place to advertise events that are going to happen, discuss what the students in the schools are doing, and a place for the community to brag about their accomplishments. There's a section where if you travel somewhere and take a picture of you with the Times Indicator on your travels, they'll post it in the paper. Then there's all the births, divorces, arrests and court appearances, who made the honor lists in college, graduating college, birthday and anniversary milestones, and so on. Lilly's already been in the paper once.
There is a big controversy going on in the editorials for the past month. One guy, I guess, I missed this letter, said that if we are a good community and decent and the Christians that we say we are, we would not allow Fifty Shades of Grey to come to our theater and wouldn't allow anyone to see it. There have been two responses in the last two weeks that are well written, not offensive, and discuss the Constitution, Freedom of Speech and trusting our forefathers and the government....all while saying that they themselves will not be seeing the movie and hope that their grown daughters don't see it either. I am so proud that our community loves the Constitution and sticks up for it and other's rights to choose what they want.
On a different note, I saw a speaker yesterday, who's husband is a judge for the county, who rights children's stories to bring them closer to Christ, etc. She travels the world and gives talks. This sentence came out:
"There are demons out there and especially in those foreign places."
She seemed to believe that the foreign places are more dangerous and less Christian and more demonic, and I truly think she meant actual demons, than the USA. Demons aside, that is not true. There are places that are just as terrible here as there are anywhere else, and there are places in foreign countries that are just as "good" as here. I'm a terrible mission worker. I'd rather fight for the poor and the "demonic" in the USA, my home, than giving my time and money away to other countries. aka those damn foreigners. *sarcasm*
She used the word "foreign" more than once, and I thought it was just a poor choice of words. Which is odd, this woman is GOOD at public speaking. She ooooozes charisma and the ability to make people feel, deep down feel, what she is saying. THat's why she's so good at converting people to Christ. You know she thinks about each word she uses and picks it for a reason. So why choose Foreign? I think there is a prejudice there. She's setting us up to be us vs. them. Americans vs those savage demonic foreigners.
The best I can do as to why she is doing this is because she mentioned that she was assaulted on one of her trips. Assaulted. That's a vague word. Physically? Mentally? Sexually? It says that something bad happened but does not say what. But if it was that bad, she is possibly harboring some residual anger and issues towards those outsiders that hurt her. And I pray for her that she can heal and let go of that anger. By using such a word as foreigner, she is passively and subtly making them the bad guy and telling everyone that they hurt her and she's pissed, but she's not actually saying anything that can prove that this.
You know what bothers me the most about all of this conversation. The casual way we discuss and praise converting people to Christ. Ugh. Can't we bring them Christ and then let him do the rest of the work? Isn't that what faith is? Did I mention I'm a terrible missionary.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Where I Realize That I Have A Table Problem
Today is a snow day. Normally, I like the excuse to bunker down and watch tv and not work (just because I don't go to school doesn't mean I don't get snow days off! And same goes for it being Saturday). Today though, is also Valentine's Day and Josh is working. Lilly and I had plans to go to the library and do Valentine's Day crafts. V.Day crafts are my favorite! All the pink and white and the hearts! You get to make cute things to give to those you love. Even though we live walking distance from the library, the car is under 6 inches of snow, the streets are slippery, and it's getting to be under 10 degrees. I'm not shoveling that. I'm not bringing Lilly out in that. And it's a bummer.
The good news? Lilly has been coloring non-stop on pink paper to make Valentine's Day cards with and I have lots of decorative hearts and pink and white paper. Today we will make cards and prepare to mail them out.
Her new tv show she asks to watch is The Magic School Bus! She loves vehicles of all types and calls them Cars. She asks to watch the Car show. (We don't actually watch the Disney Cars show though). I drew a school bus when we were coloring together and she totally figured out that it was the Magic School Bus. She pointed at the tv and laughed.
Now, I've been thinking lately, about many things. One is about how easy it is to portray your life as good and better and perfect on the internets. That's why you shouldn't compare their life with the lives of others, because you are comparing all of your faults and bad days with the only the best of what you see of others. It's not really fair to yourself.
Well, I just know y'all think I live a charmed, wonderful, amazing, exciting life. And it's true, I do. But it is not perfect.
Here is a list of imperfections of my life (yet doesn't touch on any actual problems, because, Duh! this is the internet.)
1. There is a bag of dirty diapers buried by the current blizzard outside my back door. I never got around to bringing it the rest of the way to the dumpster.
2. A few hours ago, I added a bag of kitchen garbage to the growing pile.
3. There are overly old leftovers in my fridge.
4. I do not own enough chairs to invite people over for dinner, and if I did, where would I put them?
5. I am out of clothes to put on. But they are all clean. I wash clothes great. I do not fold them. All of our clothes are piled up on a table in the basement, and it's too cold to get them.
6. I made poison stink cheese in a sippy cup by leaving it filled with milk hidden on the floor for more than a day.
7. We have not completely unpacked nor brought every box over to our house from my parents yet. But, in my defense, winter is here and it's hard to move stuff in a truck in the winter. Again with that darn cold and snow excuse. Also, it's just books that we have left there. And the bookshelf. And my coffee table. We have too many coffee tables now. Three chairs and four coffee tables. Something is wrong with that.
8. I have three dinner tables too.
9. and one ottoman/foot stool. Side note: This opens up and has a secret storage box inside. We don't show lilly because it is filled with some of our games. This has led to her having the idea that the game Sequence Dice is hers because she's always around when I want to put it away, and I can't because she CANNOT see me open the footstool.
10. I have three filing cabinets now...and none are working well. One has a broken handle, one is out in the garage and cold, and the one I want to open just won't open! It's filled with rocks and geology books (I think) and it's heavy as hell and I think the move caused the rocks to jam up the drawer so it won't open. I want my geology books!! I need to recreate a scene from the Big Bang Theory for my brother.
11. I don't know where half of my stuff is. I only know where baby stuff is. I packed all my stuff up over a year ago, and didn't look at it for a year. Then I unpack it, go SHIZA I didn't know I owned this *Holds up a jiggly pig marde gras necklace* Then I put it into a pile to be repacked into a different box. I have a box of maternity clothes, a box of summer clothes, a box of work clothes (unopened from the move), a box of coats and MORE TOWELS in the garage that hasn't been washed from the move yet (moldy). And I want to make a box of dress up clothes and a box of clothes for Lilly/kids in the future.
So, I did not put the jiggly pig in a new box. I hung it up to admire it.
And my final imperfection that I'm actually embarrassed about:
12. Lilly is watching tv more than the allotted (by who I dont' know...probably THEY) two hours of screen time today. And she's not even two yet. THEY says kids shouldn't watch tv until they are two.
Blame the snow.
The good news? Lilly has been coloring non-stop on pink paper to make Valentine's Day cards with and I have lots of decorative hearts and pink and white paper. Today we will make cards and prepare to mail them out.
Her new tv show she asks to watch is The Magic School Bus! She loves vehicles of all types and calls them Cars. She asks to watch the Car show. (We don't actually watch the Disney Cars show though). I drew a school bus when we were coloring together and she totally figured out that it was the Magic School Bus. She pointed at the tv and laughed.
Now, I've been thinking lately, about many things. One is about how easy it is to portray your life as good and better and perfect on the internets. That's why you shouldn't compare their life with the lives of others, because you are comparing all of your faults and bad days with the only the best of what you see of others. It's not really fair to yourself.
Well, I just know y'all think I live a charmed, wonderful, amazing, exciting life. And it's true, I do. But it is not perfect.
Here is a list of imperfections of my life (yet doesn't touch on any actual problems, because, Duh! this is the internet.)
1. There is a bag of dirty diapers buried by the current blizzard outside my back door. I never got around to bringing it the rest of the way to the dumpster.
2. A few hours ago, I added a bag of kitchen garbage to the growing pile.
3. There are overly old leftovers in my fridge.
4. I do not own enough chairs to invite people over for dinner, and if I did, where would I put them?
5. I am out of clothes to put on. But they are all clean. I wash clothes great. I do not fold them. All of our clothes are piled up on a table in the basement, and it's too cold to get them.
6. I made poison stink cheese in a sippy cup by leaving it filled with milk hidden on the floor for more than a day.
7. We have not completely unpacked nor brought every box over to our house from my parents yet. But, in my defense, winter is here and it's hard to move stuff in a truck in the winter. Again with that darn cold and snow excuse. Also, it's just books that we have left there. And the bookshelf. And my coffee table. We have too many coffee tables now. Three chairs and four coffee tables. Something is wrong with that.
8. I have three dinner tables too.
9. and one ottoman/foot stool. Side note: This opens up and has a secret storage box inside. We don't show lilly because it is filled with some of our games. This has led to her having the idea that the game Sequence Dice is hers because she's always around when I want to put it away, and I can't because she CANNOT see me open the footstool.
10. I have three filing cabinets now...and none are working well. One has a broken handle, one is out in the garage and cold, and the one I want to open just won't open! It's filled with rocks and geology books (I think) and it's heavy as hell and I think the move caused the rocks to jam up the drawer so it won't open. I want my geology books!! I need to recreate a scene from the Big Bang Theory for my brother.
11. I don't know where half of my stuff is. I only know where baby stuff is. I packed all my stuff up over a year ago, and didn't look at it for a year. Then I unpack it, go SHIZA I didn't know I owned this *Holds up a jiggly pig marde gras necklace* Then I put it into a pile to be repacked into a different box. I have a box of maternity clothes, a box of summer clothes, a box of work clothes (unopened from the move), a box of coats and MORE TOWELS in the garage that hasn't been washed from the move yet (moldy). And I want to make a box of dress up clothes and a box of clothes for Lilly/kids in the future.
So, I did not put the jiggly pig in a new box. I hung it up to admire it.
And my final imperfection that I'm actually embarrassed about:
12. Lilly is watching tv more than the allotted (by who I dont' know...probably THEY) two hours of screen time today. And she's not even two yet. THEY says kids shouldn't watch tv until they are two.
Blame the snow.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Assertive Responses to God and Rocks
What a week! It was a very high anxiety week for me. I met, or really, re-met a lot of people from my past. Specifically teachers and the mother of my first real boyfriend. Awkward. But...funny enough, not the most awkward thing that happened.
I was at a Stay At Home Mom church community group meeting that I belong to and the speaker was a high school teacher of mine. And not just any one, but one whose husband, also a high school teacher, I spent a lot of time discussing, teasing, and thinking about with my friends. Sort of a set of inside jokes with my friends...since high school. I want to tell the story, but I don't want to gossip...so I'm going to change names. Mrs. Smith and Mr. Smith. She's talked to us about marriage and love and God. She was so passionate about what she was talking about, that I am giving her the benefit of the doubt and am truly trying to think about her message. It was hard because it was about submitting to your husband, the same way you submit to God. And she defined Submission in a way I have not thought about before. You are suppose to submit to God but he still gives you free will. And in the same way you place your faith in God, you are to place your faith in your husband. I think I like the message if the husband also has the same message, that he must submit to the wife and have faith in her like God. Only, that half of the message was not discussed. I think because I cannot change my husband, I can only change myself. And I agree with that totally. But...the way the message comes across, there is no way out for the woman if the husband does not respect her and beats her or cheats on her or something. The message did not mention respecting yourself and where that falls into the God/Husband/Wife triangle. I took away that you submit to God first, and your husband does too, then you submit to your husband, and doing all that and praying a lot brings all three of you closer together. BUT where does respecting yourself fall in? I think God would want me to respect him first, then me, then my husband. And by respecting myself, I act with respect towards my husband.
Anyways, that was her point, and she was very good at discussing it and was enjoying the topic with a passion. In the same way I enjoy discussing rocks with a passion.
Then she got to the part about sex with your husband. And she says: "My husband, he likes sex. So what do I get him for his birthday? After a while, he can just buy what he needs, so I got him sex. I rented a hotel room for the weekend and bought a sexy outfit. I wrapped it up and sent it to him at his work (high school) and prayed that he didn't open it in class. He loved it! It's all he's been wanting for his birthday since."
MY EARS CANNOT UNHEAR THAT! It was the same feeling you get if you were to imagine your mom saying that. Bleh.
There's more to the story and backstory, but it's just gossip and not for the public thoughts.
I joined a book group of more experienced in life women about peace and nonviolence. I didn't know it, but they define violence differently. Violence is not just a physical act. It's rudeness, discrimination, words and feelings that make you feel bad about yourself. That is all violence. And the book and discussion studies how to deal with violence in your life and how to be a non violent person both personaly and in the view of helping the community. Basically, it's about behaving assertively and sticking up for your rights. I'm very excited to learn about this with a group of experienced women. Assertiveness is what I have been trying to learn since I became pregnant and it's what is most important to me that I teach Lilly and any future siblings.
That's where I met a lot of people I used to know? It was sort of like, Lindy This Is Your Life...like from Seseme Street. Only it's the life I moved away from and tried very hard to leave behind. Of course, I moved to Nashvegas, and found a very violent (in the new definition of the term) life that I hated. So, I guess I traded my horrible violent life for my old awkward one. I'd much rather have awkward than mean and horrible. Plus, I'm not the same person as I was. I am more in control of my life now and my responses to it (due to my assertiveness focus).
Disclaimer: My Nashvegas friends made life good and bearable while I was there. They taught me a lot about life, differences, and expanded my view in a good way on people and Christians.
There are different types of Christians out there....they are not all like the stereotypical ones in Freakmont. My work expanded my view on the government, companies, and professional life in such a cynical way, I don't know if I can ever work for a company or coorporation again. I would prefer to be my own boss, so I can enforce my own workplace rules. My view on how the government is cynical, but I do trust that when it comes down to the knitty gritty of government, they are doing the most mediocre job that they can, and that's better than purposely trying to screw us over.
The best gift was given to my family this week too!!!! I was outside after the snow storm weekend trying to shovel the driveway during Lilly's nap. I only had the strength to shovel the most important parts, the tall pile that the snow plow leaves behind at the entrance to the drive. It was so tiring! I spent the whole time wishing i was in a college town full of 20 yr olds with nothing better to do than be good samaritans and doing random acts of kindness. Then I could get one to shovel or plow my drive for free. Then when Josh got home, he said that some one had snow blown the whole thing!!!! It's amazing! They even did the walk up to the door and the path from the drive to the door!!! I think it was the neighbors b/c their driveway is cleared too. Isn't that just the nicest thing?
Now onto my geology thoughts. Josh says on his PS4 there is a game or item he can buy that uses Liquid Hot Lava. That, people, is redundant. The word lava implies that the rock is liquid hot. If it wasn't it would be a rock, not magma. If you wanted to get very technical, you could call it a Magmatic Mush. One of my favorite and most memorable times of grad school is when my research group and Calvin (The advisor) spent an hour defining magmatic mush and what it we are really saying when we use that term. Is it 50% crystals and 50% liquid? At what percentage of crystals in the liquid does the magma go from a liquid to a mush to a solid?
Key Terms: Lava = liquid rock at the surface of the Earth (erupted). Magma = liquid rock below the surface (not erupted).
Oh, and in my mind, a magmatic mush sounds like crunchy snow. But when I asked about it, I was told it was more like oatmeal and probably wouldn't make a sound. I choose to ignore this and keep on imagining it making the best crunching noise you can imagine. Like, stepping on dried leaves or a nutty bar.
I was at a Stay At Home Mom church community group meeting that I belong to and the speaker was a high school teacher of mine. And not just any one, but one whose husband, also a high school teacher, I spent a lot of time discussing, teasing, and thinking about with my friends. Sort of a set of inside jokes with my friends...since high school. I want to tell the story, but I don't want to gossip...so I'm going to change names. Mrs. Smith and Mr. Smith. She's talked to us about marriage and love and God. She was so passionate about what she was talking about, that I am giving her the benefit of the doubt and am truly trying to think about her message. It was hard because it was about submitting to your husband, the same way you submit to God. And she defined Submission in a way I have not thought about before. You are suppose to submit to God but he still gives you free will. And in the same way you place your faith in God, you are to place your faith in your husband. I think I like the message if the husband also has the same message, that he must submit to the wife and have faith in her like God. Only, that half of the message was not discussed. I think because I cannot change my husband, I can only change myself. And I agree with that totally. But...the way the message comes across, there is no way out for the woman if the husband does not respect her and beats her or cheats on her or something. The message did not mention respecting yourself and where that falls into the God/Husband/Wife triangle. I took away that you submit to God first, and your husband does too, then you submit to your husband, and doing all that and praying a lot brings all three of you closer together. BUT where does respecting yourself fall in? I think God would want me to respect him first, then me, then my husband. And by respecting myself, I act with respect towards my husband.
Anyways, that was her point, and she was very good at discussing it and was enjoying the topic with a passion. In the same way I enjoy discussing rocks with a passion.
Then she got to the part about sex with your husband. And she says: "My husband, he likes sex. So what do I get him for his birthday? After a while, he can just buy what he needs, so I got him sex. I rented a hotel room for the weekend and bought a sexy outfit. I wrapped it up and sent it to him at his work (high school) and prayed that he didn't open it in class. He loved it! It's all he's been wanting for his birthday since."
MY EARS CANNOT UNHEAR THAT! It was the same feeling you get if you were to imagine your mom saying that. Bleh.
There's more to the story and backstory, but it's just gossip and not for the public thoughts.
I joined a book group of more experienced in life women about peace and nonviolence. I didn't know it, but they define violence differently. Violence is not just a physical act. It's rudeness, discrimination, words and feelings that make you feel bad about yourself. That is all violence. And the book and discussion studies how to deal with violence in your life and how to be a non violent person both personaly and in the view of helping the community. Basically, it's about behaving assertively and sticking up for your rights. I'm very excited to learn about this with a group of experienced women. Assertiveness is what I have been trying to learn since I became pregnant and it's what is most important to me that I teach Lilly and any future siblings.
That's where I met a lot of people I used to know? It was sort of like, Lindy This Is Your Life...like from Seseme Street. Only it's the life I moved away from and tried very hard to leave behind. Of course, I moved to Nashvegas, and found a very violent (in the new definition of the term) life that I hated. So, I guess I traded my horrible violent life for my old awkward one. I'd much rather have awkward than mean and horrible. Plus, I'm not the same person as I was. I am more in control of my life now and my responses to it (due to my assertiveness focus).
Disclaimer: My Nashvegas friends made life good and bearable while I was there. They taught me a lot about life, differences, and expanded my view in a good way on people and Christians.
There are different types of Christians out there....they are not all like the stereotypical ones in Freakmont. My work expanded my view on the government, companies, and professional life in such a cynical way, I don't know if I can ever work for a company or coorporation again. I would prefer to be my own boss, so I can enforce my own workplace rules. My view on how the government is cynical, but I do trust that when it comes down to the knitty gritty of government, they are doing the most mediocre job that they can, and that's better than purposely trying to screw us over.
The best gift was given to my family this week too!!!! I was outside after the snow storm weekend trying to shovel the driveway during Lilly's nap. I only had the strength to shovel the most important parts, the tall pile that the snow plow leaves behind at the entrance to the drive. It was so tiring! I spent the whole time wishing i was in a college town full of 20 yr olds with nothing better to do than be good samaritans and doing random acts of kindness. Then I could get one to shovel or plow my drive for free. Then when Josh got home, he said that some one had snow blown the whole thing!!!! It's amazing! They even did the walk up to the door and the path from the drive to the door!!! I think it was the neighbors b/c their driveway is cleared too. Isn't that just the nicest thing?
Now onto my geology thoughts. Josh says on his PS4 there is a game or item he can buy that uses Liquid Hot Lava. That, people, is redundant. The word lava implies that the rock is liquid hot. If it wasn't it would be a rock, not magma. If you wanted to get very technical, you could call it a Magmatic Mush. One of my favorite and most memorable times of grad school is when my research group and Calvin (The advisor) spent an hour defining magmatic mush and what it we are really saying when we use that term. Is it 50% crystals and 50% liquid? At what percentage of crystals in the liquid does the magma go from a liquid to a mush to a solid?
Key Terms: Lava = liquid rock at the surface of the Earth (erupted). Magma = liquid rock below the surface (not erupted).
Oh, and in my mind, a magmatic mush sounds like crunchy snow. But when I asked about it, I was told it was more like oatmeal and probably wouldn't make a sound. I choose to ignore this and keep on imagining it making the best crunching noise you can imagine. Like, stepping on dried leaves or a nutty bar.
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