It's time to do some minor EDITING

You know you're a computer junkie when you look through your mending pile next to the sewing machine and think,

"These clothes need some small edits."

May Day Gratitudes

Daily Gratitudes:

1. Kevin!
He not only took my recycle bin out to the street for me, he voluntarily took out my stinky, gross garbage bin out to the street as well (and I'm not even sure if he knows that Rob is pulling 14 hour days right now).

And if you thought that wasn't enough (I was really convinced it was), THEN he brought over warm chocolate chip cookies. If only more men knew the way to a woman's heart (which is by doing housework--chocolate is just a bonus). Kevin is my hero today.

2. Tami, Kevin's wife
She was my hero yesterday! Since a pest control guy was coming out, we had to clear the baseboards in our homes, and I put a lot of items out on the driveway in the morning to make room so I *could* get to clearing away the edges of the garage. But by midmorning I had several appts, and only stopped at the house briefly between them.

I had fleeting worries that someone might come by and steal any or all of the stuff in my driveway; the boys' bikes, scooter, wagon, jogger, Little Tykes Car, card tables, a large portable basketball stand, and a sports center that can be used for basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and golf. But I hoped for the best.

The first time I came home I immediately noticed--Hey! The sports center is missing! Now, you may think I would feel robbed, but I was thrilled; the one thing the took was thing I've been trying to get rid of on freecycle and no one wants because the digital part doesn't work anymore.

So later, I asked Tami the story, of which Kevin, my hero today, also has a part. She saw someone drive by my house real slow in a white truck, circle the block, and drive by again, then back up, stop, get out, look, ring my doorbell, look, pause forever, then ring my doorbell again and wait some more. I'm hoping that means they were decent enough not to just steal the stuff, but Tami is more realistic that they wanted to make sure I wasn't home before they took off w/ all our things. She relays to Kevin that the sports center is up for grabs, and asks him to go find out what these people are up to.

So Kevin goes over to see what's up, and they want to buy some of my kids' stuff! He explains how we're getting sprayed for ants today and that I was simply cleaning out my garage to prepare, but that if they wanted something for free, they could have the sports center, which they take!

Yippee! Thanks for getting it gone and protecting the rest of my junk! Thank you for great neighbors and fantastic friends!

3. Humor
So tonight, I'm using these individual "cat" wet wipes that come w/ our kitty litter, some new promotion touting that they're "safe for use around cats." Ok, pretty common sense.

So I use them to clean up the outside of the litter box, and as I'm throwing away the little individual packet I have this habit of reading EVERYTHING, and I scan the directions on the back. You may not think this is so funny, but I laughed out loud at the funniest instruction:

"Do not use directly on cats."

I mean, really? Wet wipes? On a cat? That's like the ironing directions that say "Don't iron clothing that you are currently wearing." You KNOW they only added that label because some moron (ok, LOL I typed "mormon" first, is that a freudian slip? If it is, I would probably be the mormon having an ADD moment) had no common sense and wet-wiped their cat. Or got 2nd degree burns from ironing themself. And probably sued the companies---(insert whiny voice) "...But there was no warning on the label!...."

I can just imagine the wet-wiped cat that gave itself a bath and ended up at the vet for orally ingesting wet wipe chemicals.

4. (Cue hallelujah music!)
A little piece of plastic that you pee on. And believe me, it wouldn't be under daily gratitudes if there was only one line showing up. So I'm excited (and grateful!) for the nausea and exhaustion I'm feeling. And the blood I gave today that should confirm #4 is on the way. After more than a year of trying, all I can say is, "Finally." : )

5. Priesthood blessings*
Late last night, when I was sick with a sore throat (on top of the morning sickness and fatigue), Rob gave me a blessing around midnight, when he finally got home from work. It was like sweet music to my ears.

I felt so comforted, my sore throat has been kept at bay as promised, and I was told some precious things about being a better mother and preparing for this pregnancy. I felt this strength throughout today that left me with peace and honestly I was a really good mom today, and I felt helped. I was humbled that I was told not to get mad at Jeffrey and take out my frustrations with my ADD symptoms on him when he displays the same symptoms, but to make it a common bond between us. It was like a different world today when I apologized to him and interacted with him without having such a short fuse.

6. My blog--
For some reason all the words and links in the right column of my blog got squished down to the bottom of the blog posts for nearly a month, and tonight, the first time I posted this (yes, I'm one of those who re-reads it six or more times only to make more itty bitty edits until it's "just right"), all my stuff showed back up on the right-hand side! Yay invisible blogger fix-it genie!

7. My Mama. (updated because of the comment she left me)

Awww. Thank you for your comment, mom. It made my day. I guess I should actually stop procrastinating and finish these scout awards, but instead I was checking my email and saw that you commented.

*I predict that many who read my blog are mormon (because I know you through family or church), but if you're not, and you ever want to know what the dealio I'm talking about with some words or phrases, like "priesthood blessings," you can email me or write a comment and I'll let you know.

I never want anyone to feel excluded from any mormon jargon I use, but I also don't want to explain everything like I've been doing so far, as I've been worrying y'all might feel like I'm preaching. The truth is, I share what I want to share, when I want to.

A lot of times it's funny, sometimes it's just something that strikes my fancy, a lot of times it's sarcastic, sometimes it's funny because of the religious context, and even sometimes, it's spiritual and/or serious. As you can tell even just with the order of my daily gratitudes, my posts are about as random as my thoughts, so you get what you get, when it comes. *grin* I mean, today I have a couple of whimsical gratitudes sandwiched between some real sincere whoppers (the whimsicals are #3 & #6, of course).

Anyhoo, religion is a part of who I am so it just comes out in a lot of posts. (And no, Kevin, I'm not writing this part just for you.) ; ) It's for people who blog-hop from other blogs that I probably haven't met in person.

A Mommy Minute

Yesterday we were driving to Scout-O-Rama and the boys asked the classic question:

How much longer? (Not far, my little smurfs) ; )

I wasn't sure, so I said, maybe 5 min, maybe 10.

Bryce piped up, "Mommy* minutes?"

Thanks a lot, dear.

Then Rob rubbed lemon into my poor time skills wound by retorting, "Bryce has you figured out!"


*In this context, Bryce meant "mommy" minutes to be minutes that drag out WAAAAAY longer than real minutes. They could mean different things for diff. families. But this mommy isn't good with time management.

I'll pass; I'm good.

When we take the sacrament (like communion) each week, mormons consider it to be symbolic of renewing the covenants we made at baptism, to repent of any sins we committed during the week and start fresh.

So I thought it was pretty funny today when a friend of mine shared that recently her daughter left her speechless as the sacrament was passed to their row. Her daughter quite seriously said,

"I don't need it this week, mom. I'm good."

Can't say I've ever felt that way! I'm always glad each week for a chance to strive to be a little better.

This same daughter believes that we should have chocolate milk and powdered donuts for the sacrament instead of water and bread. Apparently she has mentioned this to our bishop (pastor) multiple times. LOL!

To Top it Off

As wonderful as mother's day already was, my friend Stephanie sent me this hilarious "Mother of the Year" news clip that inserts the name you give it. It is 1 minute, 47 seconds.

I think my favorite comment is at the very end when the newscaster says, "Up next, a new study confirms that pulling your hair into a ponytail is NOT the same as taking a shower."

Plus the baby is darling, that "talks" about moms. And the guy at the beginning who says how we selflessly work "52" hours a day. LOL!

Mother's Day

I got a cute little book from Bryce on Mother's Day titled: "All About My Mother, The Best Person on Earth"

Each page has a sentence that he completed. I wrote his answers in italics, with his exact spellings/grammar.

One of the things I like most about my mother is that she...
takes me to nice places. She also takes good care of me (the picture of the "nice" place I take him is of McDonalds, only he has written "McDogfoods," a family joke).

When my mom has some free time, she likes to...
watch movies on her laptop. Also read. (right on, kiddo, right on)

Some of my mom's favorite animals are:
horses, dogs, and cats

Some of the things my mother loves to eat are...
pizza, apples, and fish! mostly Pizza! (Hmm. I'm not a huge pizza fan and don't like fish)

My mother is...
fun, nice, funny. (Good, good, brownie points for you, dear)

Now Mother, I've told you how special you are to me and just to prove how much I think of you. I'll make your day happier by:
making a cake. (Of course you're making that cake for me, honey. Of course.)

Mother makes our home feel special when she:
Bakes a cake (More cake!)
Buy's a mtt trop carryar. (He means this lovely $100 Star Wars lego set)

It was too perfect. Aww.

I could go on about all the sweet little things my family did for me on Mother's Day, or saved for me for when I got home (I was in Houston on Mother's Day), but I won't bore you. They were precious and I'm glad I'm a mama.

Daily Gratitudes

1. Opposable thumbs

and especially the thumb grip for the many abilities of the pincer grasp. Somehow yesterday I got a little cut on my thumb and I put a bandaid over it (which feels slippery). Miss the true grip of that pincer grasp!

2. Dynamic email sort.

I am a resource person. My memory is just not terribly reliable, but I'm usually pretty quick at finding answers via whatever resource best fits my needs. How I love being able to quickly dig through particular emails by sorting either by date, name, or subject title.

It's SO much easier than trying to keep track of who sent what crucial information when (well, crucial for that day, week, or month, but maybe obsolete later). Speaking of resources, I also love excel and my palm pilot. : )

Last night I couldn't remember when an email was sent about a particular church activity, and simply "sorted" by sender, then found the info for the activity in seconds. In the last few days I have sorted from my inbox, my "sent" box, and my "deleted" box, depending on what I needed to look up.

3. Jeffrey growing socially.

He wanted to have a little party for his 10th birthday, and had 4 friends over yesterday. It was so great for all of them (including the "big" kid, my neighbor Kevin, who didn't want to miss out on the fun). They played basketball, rode bikes/scooters, and then played Mario Kart on the game cube, as well as shared pizza, cupcakes, and soda. Later, Jeffrey's first real "friend" (that he iniated; he has some friends that I & other parents have helped foster) slept over, and they got up at 5:30 this morning to play more video games!

I'm so, SO happy to see Jeffrey becoming socially aware. : ) It's good to have friends.