Well, I thought it was funny!
I told my dad a joke last night:
Me: Knock knock?
Him: Who’s there?
Me: Interrupting cow.
Him: Interrupting c- Me: MOO!
I thought it was about the funniest thing I’d ever heard, and I expected that he would appreciate it too.
My mom just told me that they got a bigger laugh agreeing over the fact that I must have cabin fever being cooped up with the kids and need to get out more! 
God is amazing
This month has been the hardest month for us financially … uh, ever. We’ve had both cars break down and some major medical bills. Not to mention that the rise in gas prices is sapping us dry! Long story short, we’ve had one crisis after another this month. We have gotten to the point where we were very low on gas and food, but not out.
Anyway, every time this happened this month, we sought God in prayer. And every time, God delivered us. Just this month we’ve gotten these completely unexpected, totally unsolicited financial blessings: $100 from a church member, $50 from a friend, $300 from a hospital bill overpayment refund(!), $70 from a bank refund, and $170 from selling something on craigslist (which isn’t always easy). That was our food and gasoline $$ this month!
Thank the Lord for his provision. These verses were reassuring to me this month (all from NIV version):
“I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.”- Psalm 120:1
Do Not Worry
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:25-31
Little drummer boy … and girl
So we’ve had this kiddie-sized drumset for over a year now. Jay bought it to help with Gabriel’s motor skills – and it did help, but we just didn’t have room for it. Anyway, Jay found the drumset for cheap and souped it up with Remo and Aquarian heads and Zildjian hi-hats. It was nice. We’ve been trying to sell it forever (to someone that appreciated the fact that this wasn’t like a set you could just go buy from Wal-mart), and finally did the other day. We took it out of the closet to set it up so I could take pictures of it for my Craigslist post. The kids had some fun with it while I had it out.
Glubs
I got Mikaela some pretty pink gloves (think easter outfit, not winter) from the dollar bin at Target about a month ago. She hasn’t shown much interest in her “glubs,” as she calls them.
But today, she brought them to me and asked me to put them on her. I was thinking how nice and cute it was that she was playing dress-up. After I finished wiggling her last tiny finger into place, she stuck her hands above her head, wiggling her fingers and growling at Gabriel (“I’m a monster!” she said)
Not exactly the picture of lady-likeness I was going for. Ha.
Discipline
Gabriel is really testing us lately. I’ve switched from making him go to his room as punishment to making him stand in the corner, and he absolutely hates it. He stood in the corner by the front door today and screamed like a crazy person for what seemed like 30 minutes but was probably only 5. The reason I put him in the corner was his response to my request to take his toys from the living room to his room: he charged at me with a nasty look on his face, intentionally pushing me. I mean, he didn’t really hurt me, but that’s not the point. He meant to.
I’ve always felt like we did a fairly good job on disciplining our kids, but I’m at a loss for what to do with Gabriel in situations like this. Don’t say he needs a good spanking; that’s the way I was raised in the good ol’ South (and it worked just fine on me), but his therapist says that kids like him really won’t benefit from physical punishment. Soooo … what now? I really haven’t had to discipline him much at all, because he’s always been a pretty compliant kid. But lately, he’s showing agression like I talked about earlier, and I don’t feel like I can just let that go … even if he is on the ’slow’ side, I can’t let him think it’s OK to physically lash out at others. The corner seemed like a great idea, but is it healthy for me to let him sit there and scream hysterically? Not to mention it fries my nerves.
Advice? Leave a comment.
Wacky weather
A couple of days ago, we had record-breaking high temps – Austin got up to 92! Tonight is getting down to 28, though. I would prefer that each season was like a switch flipping on or off … this fighting between winter and spring is killing my sinuses.
I drove by the area scorched by the fire last night and it is quite impressive. The news reported that 100 acres burned. The high winds downed a power line, and that started the fire. Anyway, I’m glad that’s all over. That’s not something I ever want to see out my back window again!
Augh! Fire!
We’re under a red flag warning today, meaning it’s really windy and dry, which can lead fires to start and grow out of control quickly. I smelled smoke for hours tonight and kept going out back (our house backs to a very large open space) to make sure there were no flames. I even called the local police department, who hadn’t heard or seen anything. I went about my evening as usual, except I kept looking out back to make sure the smoke smell hadn’t turned into something more. I looked out around 11 pm, and saw a bright line of fire about a mile or so away, advancing our direction with the wind. I screamed for Jay to wake up and I scurried around the house throwing photo albums, important videos (wedding, the kids, etc.), clothes and etc. into our laundry baskets so we could get ready to leave if evacuated (or sooner). The flames have died down but it’s still really smoky out, and the wind is unrelenting. I am afraid to go to sleep now .. I feel like I have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t sneak back up on us. I’m hoping they would evacuate us, but this is an awfully small town, so I don’t know … Read the rest of this entry »
The Office is back on April 10!
I was excited to read that my current favorite TV show, The Office, is coming back with new episodes April 10. I’ve really missed it! I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I have really gotten pulled into this show.
I was perusing The Office site a few minutes ago and they have some new (well, new to me) features, like a quiz that matches your personality with an office character. According to the personality quiz, I’m most like Jan. Darn. I thought for sure I’d be Pam.
Is that wrong?
I’m laughing at Mikaela, who just stomped in the room, eyebrows furrowed, frown on face, bellowing, “Gabriel ate my chee-wos!” (Cheetos)
I know she wants to be taken seriously, but her mispronunciation was just too funny.
Search engine terms
I am consistently intrigued/bewildered/amused by the things people search for to get to this blog. (If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, a lot of people find this blog by doing a search on a search engine like Google. I’m talking about the key words they enter in the search box.)
So, I thought I’d attempt to answer some of these pressing questions and/or comment on the things you’re searching for.
You searched for: When does Austin rush hour end?
Um … how’s “never” work for ya?
You searched for: Picture of (Censored)
Sorry, not on this blog, buster. You might try looking here, though.
You searched for: My babies
I don’t understand this search. Did you misplace them?
You searched for: pj family for sleeping
So, you want PJs for the entire family? Or PJs big enough to fit the whole family in?
You searched for: Witty headline
Well, you obviously came to the right place. 
You searched for: Baby with runny nose
I’ve got two of ‘em. Seriously, there’s not much you can do about it, if it’s a cold or allergies. As long as it’s clear, no worries, just keep the Kleenex (or aspirator) handy.
You searched for: s artic therapy
South Arctic therapy? I’ll pass.
Worn down
Lately Gabriel has been really defiant and mouthy and it’s driving me nuts. Consistent punishment seems to be having no effect.
Compounding my problems is the fact that Mikaela has figured out how to get a rise out of him. Gabriel seems to have no concept that people can lie … he takes everything at face value, very literally. Today Jay told Gabriel that the two of them were going to go out for haircuts. Gabriel was excited … he always likes spending time with his papa. But Mikaela got an evil grin on her face and said that she was the one going out with Jay, and that Gabriel would have to stay home. Of course, Gabriel started freaking out, screaming “No!” and starting to cry. Jay and I kept assuring Gabriel that he was going, but every time Mikaela said otherwise, he believed her and started having a come-apart.
I’m seeing a lot more meltdowns lately. Isn’t this supposed to get easier as they get older?!?!
I’ve read much about kids with SID having meltdowns when their routine or schedule is changed, or when having to transition from one daily activity or task to another. That doesn’t quite fit Gabriel – his meltdowns are the result of things not going the way he thinks they should. For instance, the other night, he and Mikaela were watching a movie in my bedroom while I was getting some work done. I kept hearing Gabriel scream and cry almost hysterically every time Mikaela left the room. I kept checking on him, and he told me each time “Mikaela no wanna go in there (out of the room he was in), she wanna watcha movie.” Every time, I told him ’she can do what she wants, don’t worry about her, just watch the movie.’ It didn’t help. Every time she walked out of the room, he freaked out and started wailing.
Any other SID / SPD parents out there with suggestions on what I can do?
Third birthday
We had Mikaela’s third birthday party today, although she’s not officially three until 1:33 am on Monday. Anyway, the party was small but nice – Jay’s parents came, as well as Jay’s sister, Stephanie, and her son Austin. We all got a laugh (well, after we saw she was OK) when Mikaela leaned forward to blow the candles out and stuck her lips right on the flame! It startled her, but she pulled back quickly. Read the rest of this entry »
Save your money
Fisher price has a new “Zen collection” of baby gear. It’s beautiful and should definitely appeal to first-time parents.
Seasoned veteran parents know the truth: look for whatever cleans up easily! Babies are messy creatures. I’m sure the Zen gear will look great with spitup, soggy Cheerios and strained peas all over it.
My baby
It’s hard to believe Mikaela is going to be 3 in a few days. She’s still so tiny – a recent doctor’s visit showed she weighed 23.8 pounds. But she’s so short, she’s proportional. She actually has a (very cute) little potbelly.
She makes me laugh every day, but she’s also a constantly testing my patience. Just yesterday, she colored on the wall with a brown crayon and broke two slats off of the mini-blinds in her bedroom.
Earlier in the day, she walked into the kitchen and said “Mama, I’m hungry. I want 4 or 5 cupcakes.” Me, too.
What do you mean it’s only Tuesday?
Between my work, daily chores and our auto and financial issues, I feel like this has been a long week already. Especially yesterday …
The phone rang at 6:47 am. I thought to myself ’someone must be dead.’ Thankfully not, but Jay was in a precarious position. His car had broken down right at the I-35 upper/lower deck split in Austin. It’s the alternator. He wasn’t even able to make it all the way off onto the shoulder. His battery was dead, so he couldn’t put on his hazard lights. He had people angrily whizzing around him and honking (seriously, people, who stops on the interstate just for the heck of it?). Incidentally, Jay now admits that Austin drivers are RUDE. I’ve been saying that ever since my short-lived career at the Statesman. But, I digress.
He called 911 and a nice police officer pushed him off the nearest exit, onto a side street. In the meanwhile, I was buying a new battery (he was hoping it would provide enough power for us to get home without calling a tow truck), collecting his tools, and driving to Austin. Got there and stood around while he unsuccessfully tried to get the new battery in. His car was parked right next to the Austin Chronicle building on 40th. I watched as a parade of smartly-dressed hipsters entered the building. One guy arrived to work on his skateboard. Only Austin! Digressing again, sorry.
Apparently the wires that connect the battery to the car were too short. So we made the long drive back home in my van, leaving the car stranded there. Jay and his dad went and fetched the car later, driving it very slowly to his dad’s neighbor, who is a mechanic. Hopefully he can hook us up with a good rate. God bless him, he didn’t get home until after 5 yesterday afternoon. I’m sure he slept well last night.
The monkey wrench in this whole car saga: we are waiting on a late check from my work, and we were broke. This after unexpected medical bills and the other car getting new brakes (among other things) just a week or so ago.
But you know what? We’re the happiest we’ve been in I can’t remember how long. We are really getting plugged into our church, and we absolutely love it. The messages are so applicable to our lives (and timely), the people are so friendly … and I just feel like really good things are coming. And from a bigger perspective, what do minor things like car and money problems matter, anyway? Thank God that we are all relatively healthy. My house can burn down tomorrow, but if we’re all safe and healthy, I won’t shed a tear.
CD Cover Meme
Karen at Only Sometimes Clever recently posted a CD cover meme. This is mine: Read the rest of this entry »
Hope and prayer
My dad just told me this afternoon that the much-loved former pastor of my home church (Cathedral of the Cross in Birmingham, AL) has a fatal disease. Pastor Mark Correll has had a huge impact on my life – and I’m sure he has thousands of other people. He is one of those people you meet and never forget – very Italian, very funny, full of life. But most of all, very passionate about the love of his life – Jesus Christ. He has an amazing testimony that’s been posted online (if you listen, listen to it all … it gets really good! He was in a bike gang and was a cocaine abuser before coming to Christ. Amazing stuff.)
Anyway, please pray for pastor Mark and for his family. Please pray for healing, and for peace.
Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper
I really want to like this drink, especially since I’ve sworn off regular Dr Pepper (my first love) forever because I was addicted and it was way too much sugar.
So, I bought a 12 pack of the Diet Cherry Chocolate DP cans tonight. Why do they make drinks like that only in cans? They taste so much better in bottles. Anyway, I tried drinking it out of the can. Blech. Okay, now I’m trying it in a glass, on the rocks. With a straw. Better.
It actually tastes like a cherry/chocolate Tootsie Pop. Yeah, that’s exactly what it tastes like. I’m not getting too much of the Dr Pepper taste. It’s not too bad. I don’t think I’d want this with a meal, but it would be a nice after-dinner “dessert” for dieters who want something good but guilt-free.
As far as new diet drinks go, this one’s pretty darn good.
I’m apparently raising parrots
A couple of days ago, I sat Gabriel down at my computer desk to play an educational game. It was apparently taking too long to load, and he threw his arms up, saying “OH, COME ON!”
Every time one of the kids feels the need to reprimand the other one (not sure why they do that), they end the reprimand by saying, “you unnerstand me? Okay!”
What really cracks me up is when Mikaela asks me a question like “what is this?” and when I answer correctly, she says “All right! Good job!”
Ha.
So yesterday I went to pick up a box of Kleenex and discovered that the box contained a bunch of wadded-up (but apparently unused) tissues. I didn’t have to think long to figure out the culprit.
I showed the box to Mikaela, asking her, “what happened here?”
She poked her lip out and replied, “Papa mean.”
The day before when I’d made a late-night grocery trip, I asked Jay to take the first shift of sleeping next to the kids (who are sick with bronchitis). Apparently, she asked Jay for a tissue and, still being half-asleep, he handed her the box. A little while later, he woke up to find her plucking the tissues from the box one by one, throwing them on the floor.
Of course, he got onto her for it, hence the “papa mean.”
…Or something like that
Jay’s mom met me at the doctor when I was taking the kids there yesterday. When Gabriel saw her, he proclaimed “I have a booger. I hafta go the doctor.”
Alarm clock
Gabriel wakes me every morning by saying: “Mama, the cows coming out. It’s daytime. You hafta wake up!”
The cows we can see in the field out back seem to graze in the mornings, something Gabriel has noticed. I thought that observation was funny.
At least his request is more charming than Mikaela’s “WAKE! UP! I’M! HUNGRY!”
Christian metal: not “Christian” enough?
This article makes me want to pull my hair out. It basically says that the Christian message gets lost in the heavy music and sometimes obscure lyrics. Whoever said that Christian music had to meet some sort of holiness standard to meet approval? These parents should be really glad their kids aren’t listening to Ministry or Slayer (if you’re not familiar, these bands are anti-Christian heavy metal).
I grew up around people that spent WAY too much time on such a non-issue. There are too many major things facing Christians in this world without people worrying about whether their kids music is Christian enough.
I will say this: I don’t want to be too critical of the organization that put this article out there. Focus on the Family has a lot of good things to say, and I would actually love to work for them. Maybe I could convince them to spend less time on things like this and more time on things like genocide and poverty and making birth control more readily available (which, admit it, will lead to a decrease in abortions).
Update on kids
After realizing the kids did almost nothing but laze around on the couch all day, I checked and they both had temperatures. Their coughs were sounding worse, too, so I took them to the after-hours clinic. They both have bronchitis. Please say a prayer they get better soon.
I’m a little annoyed after leaving the doc’s office, though. Why do they ask you what allergies your kids have if they don’t check the chart to see what those allergies are? Mikaela is allergic to amoxicillin, and that’s exactly what the doctor prescribed her. He handed me the Rx and I handed it right back, saying, “she’s allergic.” He looked more than a tad annoyed as he went off to write another one. I know humans are not perfect, but it seems like almost every medical mistake I’ve personally witnessed could have been prevented if they had just slowed down and/or double-checked themselves.
That’s my rant for the day.
Yep.
Every mom can appreciate this! Dads, are you paying attention? Remember this come Valentine’s day! Read the rest of this entry »
Fish story
I recently saw this photo of Jay when he was a kid. Hysterical. Read the rest of this entry »
Human letters
I like making creative birthday cards and I like showing my kids off [oh, my gosh, I have turned into one of those obnoxious parents who thinks my kids are adorable ... well, sorry. ]. So, I obviously like combining the two.
Southeast tornadoes
I just read on cnn.com that cities across the southeast have been hit by tornadoes, killing and injuring over 100. My prayers go out to them.
One city that I noticed in cnn’s list of cities with tornado damage – Jackson, Tenn. – has been hit by tornadoes at least twice before (that I remember) in the last 15 years. That’s kind of odd that it seems to almost be a tornado magnet. I wonder if something somehow causes that, or whether it’s pure coincidence?
My top Superbowl ad picks
Tide to Go
For some reason, this commercial reminded me of that hilarious scene in Bruce Almighty when Jim Carey as “God” played a dirty trick on his co-worker (Steve Carrell).
Charles Barkley – T mobile
This was funny. Not spectacularly funny, but funny.
Justin Timberlake – Pepsi
I had to laugh out loud at the last scene.
Bridgestone Firestone Obstacles
This was really funny. Although, I’m not sure if it’s sad or funny (or both) that Richard Simmons is laughing along with the rest of the country at himself.
Bridgestone Firestone Animals
Simple, funny, cute all in one … what more could you ask for? My favorite is the cricket.
Coke “It’s Mine”
I like this ad, but I thought things never went right for the character who finally catches the Coke. So, either this ad isn’t true to the character, or the character finally got his due (I’d prefer to believe the latter). It was about time, I guess.
Audi
‘Funny’ ad, amazing car.
Diet Pepsi Max
I can’t believe the Time ad reviewer didn’t get the joke. That either means they’re really old or really young…
Napoleon Garmin
I decided to throw this one at the last minute. Cute.
Yikes
I just happened upon a story I wrote a while ago. Could I use a few more dashes? Geez.
I have been doing a lot of thinking recently about the fact that I have made absolutely zero effort lately to get myself published again. I have somewhere around a dozen or so stories that I wrote for the magazine company I used to work for, but I’ve never been published anywhere else noteworthy. Someone please light a fire under my behind.
I don’t know if I would have any success or not, but I guess I’ll never know unless I try.
One of the things I’ve been thinking about is an article related to one of Gabriel’s conditions. I’ve immersed myself in literature related to those subjects, so I feel like a semi-expert as far as laypeople go. I would definitely need to collaborate on the article with a doctor or specialist so it would have more credibility.
Speaking of writing, I’m trying to convince my husband to start a sports blog. I think he’d be really good at it. I’ll let you know if/when he gets it off the ground.
Every life is beautiful
This is the most heart-wrenching thing that I’ve ever seen.
Another Reason I don’t like Anne Coulter
Anne Coulter recently said that she’d vote for Hillary Clinton over John McCain in a general election. You can see the whole Coulter video here, on Fox’s Hannity & Colmes.
Seriously, Anne? SERIOUSLY?
Because I just joined the Facebook group “If Hillary Clinton is elected president, Texas is seceding from the union.”
And that might just be a little less crazy than your endorsement of Hillary Clinton as being “more conservative” than John McCain.
