Agreements

I have discussed The Five Agreements numerous times on this blog and other blogs in the past. The books by don Miguel Ruiz literally changed my life. I refer to them regularly, meditate on them often, and re-read them constantly.  They just make so much sense. And I guess the bottom line is: the principles work for me.

A brief re-cap of the agreements from this article:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment. It will be different when you are healthy as opposed to when you are sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

5. Be Skeptical, But Learn to Listen – Don’t believe yourself or anybody else. Use the power of doubt to question everything you hear: Is it really the truth? Listen to the intent behind the words, and you will understand the real message.

“The Fifth Agreement uses doubt as a tool to discern the truth.. Doubt takes us behind the words we hear to the intent behind them.  By being skeptical, we don’t believe every message we hear; we don’t put our faith in lies, and when our faith is not in lies, we quickly move beyond emotional drama, victimization, and the limiting belief systems our “domestication” has programmed us with.”

I faced a situation recently where I was experiencing a lot of anxiety prior to an event.  When I searched out where those feelings were stemming from, I realized it was me breaking Agreements #2 and  #3. I was taking things personally that hadn’t even happened yet! And I was making all sorts of assumptions about how things were going to go. I was assuming the worst in others. I decided that I needed a major change in thinking. I reminded myself that I am only in control of MYSELF, and that even if the worst possible scenario in my mind did occur, I had the power to respond positively. I meditated on these two agreements, asked for God’s help to remain kind, and it literally changed everything.

Leave a comment below and, if you feel led, share which agreement is the hardest for you. If not, just say hi. I’ll do a drawing Sunday and send a copy of the book to one of you. (If you have a Kindle, I can send it wirelessly if you prefer. If you already have the book, he has written others that are equally as powerful.)

Have a fabulous weekend! I’m looking forward to date night with Chad tonight, garage sales and homework tomorrow, and hopefully some much needed sitting in the sun!

xo

Thank you, Pinterest!

I feel like Pinterest is my own personal little cloud notepad…I can see something I want to try and instead of bookmarking it or printing it, I can just post it to Pinterest and access it on any device when needed. This has come in awfully handy this past week as I have tried many new recipes that I posted to and/or found on Pinterest. I have to share because they are THAT GOOD! (Click on pictures for links…)

This was dinner for Chad and me last night and it was AMAZING! Super easy, fast, and tasty.  I’m excited to take leftovers to class tonight! (I substituted Tempeh for the chicken.)

Amazing blueberry muffins! Soft inside but sort of sugary crispy on the outside. Excellent recipe!

This recipe was just okay. It could have had a bit more flavor, however, I did quintuple the recipe which may have affected it some! It smelled exactly like rice-a-roni.

This was by far the best breakfast casserole I have ever made. I used Morningstar Veggie Sausage (many family members had no idea it wasn’t real sausage!) and carmelized the onions. So good!

And the biggest hit of them all…this cake was TO DIE FOR! Absolutely amazing! I am already planning the next time I can make it.

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On another non-Pinterest related note…I have been thinking all week about the following quote that I posted on FB:

“Before you speak, think: Is it necessary? Is it true? Is it kind? Will it hurt anyone? Will it improve on the silence?” ~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

It reminds me of the acronym I heard years ago:

THINK:

T: Is is true?

H: Is it helpful?

I: Is it inspiring?

N: Is it necessary?

K: Is it kind?

I am going to post on the fridge in my house and in Chad’s house. This week someone who I love dearly broke each of these things when talking with me, and I am still in deep pain because of it.  We need to hold our loved one’s carefully…pretend they are fragile glass…and try desperately not to break them.  I don’t want to be the reason anyone I love is hurting.

I like to imagine that we all have a plate in front of us, and yes we may have ordered some of it or grabbed it at the buffet, but a lot of it was served to us without our consent.  So here we are, sitting in front of our plate, it may be small, it may be large, it may be empty, it may be full. Then next to the plate we have our tools…If you are lucky, you have a few different sized forks, spoons, knives, and perhaps even a steak knife to help make sense of what is on that plate.  However, through no fault of your own, you may be sitting there with a big, full plate and only a soup spoon to work with.

I believe my plate is appropriately full, I know I have all the *tools needed to handle it. Wisdom I gained through reading a million books, having paid friends, being open and listening to what wiser people are trying to teach me, and having a partner who lets me vent until the wee hours of the night and offers me encouragement and advice I respect. If you worry you don’t have the right tools, consciously open yourself up to acquiring them and you will not be disappointed.

We are all doing the best we can. Let’s be kind to each other in the process.

*Side Note: I  am open to sharing tools that have helped me, and would love to hear any that have helped you!

 

The Funny Four...moments before they got in trouble by the museum people for leaning on the statues...oops

I love this picture. Our goofballs. My son looks like he could be in a magazine ad for men’s cologne.

I don’t have it in me to do a weekend in review today. It was a long weekend. Circumstances led to heightened emotions, and heightened emotions led to drama, and let’s just say it was a bit of a roller coaster. Chad and I finally had an extended period of time to talk through some things last night which was needed. So often we are just in survival mode when it is the six of us.  Little spats, frustrations, and issues arise and we never get the chance to actually resolve anything. By the time it is just the two of us, we are just wanting to enjoy our time together and not hash out what happened…then we just repeat the cycle all over again. You can see this doesn’t work well in the long run.

We are treading water. Trying to keep our heads up. It’s survival mode 99% of the time. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is set. It makes daily living awfully difficult. And there is nothing that can be done to fix it.

So about half way through our lengthy conversation last night…I was of course still listening to every word Chad was saying…but I was also thinking about how nice it is to be in a relationship that is so alive. Listening to this man who I love, respect, and who truly is my best friend, and caring about his well-being, our relationship, our future, is something I do not take for granted. It is not easy. We are both incredibly imperfect individuals trying to love each other the best we can. Sometimes I think the only thing we are sure about in our relationship is that we do love each other enough to figure the rest of it out. Right now, that’s enough for me.

Quote of the week: (Side Note: Carsyn and I had the sex talk on our little trip to the beach for her birthday. It’s been a big topic ever since, as noted by the following. Additional Side Note: Carsyn was completely, absolutely, horrified by the idea.)

While the six of us were at dinner Sunday night, something came up that Carsyn immediately associated with sex. Chad said: “Clearly the talk is on her mind.” The other kids mumbled curiosity about what that meant, and we would have just moved on, except Car decided to announce: “Mom gave me (air quotes) “The Pep Talk” last week.” Chad and I almost hit our heads on the table laughing.

Monday morning she crawled in bed with me and said: “So I’ve decided that maybe sex isn’t as awful as I thought because you know the Duggars? They did it 20 times! Not just 19, but 20, because of the miscarriage.”

Oh my.

Car’s 10th Birthday Trip

Carsyn’s 10th birthday was last Friday, which meant it was time for her 10th Birthday Trip to Sylvia Beach Hotel!  This was much anticipated for me as Car has seemed a bit “not herself” lately.  When I took her lunch at school on her actual birthday, she was quiet, reserved, and seemed a bit down.  She assured me all was well, but I knew that if this behavior continued during our trip, something was definitely wrong.  I am thankful to say that my  happy, healthy, giddy daughter was definitely herself from the moment I picked her up and we set off on our adventure.

Carsyn wanted to eat dinner at the hotel, and as you will soon be able to tell, she pretty much decided the majority of our activities on the trip! On the drive over I told her about the game that is played at this family style restaurant, where you dine with strangers: Two Truths and a Lie. The remainder of our car drive was filled with practice rounds.  She was absolutely adorable trying to figure it all out… “Okay, first, I have always wanted to have a hamster named Georgia.” (Apparently, not true! But nice imagination!)

After we arrived, we immediately checked in and headed to our room where Carsyn was instantly smitten by the decor; inspecting every corner, and bouncing around in excitement.  I wish I could explain the way she shrieked with excitement over every tiny discovery, and squealed about how much she loved it and never wanted to leave.  There was a hat rack full of Dr. Seuss type styles, so she wore different hats throughout our stay. Here’s a pic she asked me to take of her in “Ned’s Bed” with her American Girl Dolls (had to bring those, of course) and her blue and white striped hat.

After we checked out all the rooms that were open, and did a thorough browse through the gift shop, we headed out to purchase a kite.  The weather was absolutely beautiful, clear blue skies, and the beach was full of people playing, but it was definitely windy.  We found a small, simple kite and hit the beach.

After our kite flying fun, we perused many of the cute stores at Nye Beach.  Car bought some taffy for her brother and step-siblings, and I repeatedly said the word “no” as she asked if she could purchase just about everything else she found.  Back at the hotel, I let her buy a new journal from the gift shop and a postcard with a picture of the Dr. Seuss room on it.  She then wanted to spend some time hanging out in our room.  So she wrote in her journal, I read, then we read together!

No surprise that my daughter loved the desk area!

Although we had both seen the movie, believe it or not, we'd never actually read the book before!

Soon it was time for dinner, always a favorite part of the SBH experience! We ate with an older couple and an older single woman.  We had great conversations, and Car did outstanding considering the entire meal took almost two hours.  She was on her best behavior, and tried everything put in front of her. She also did a good job at Two Truths and a Lie, although I am not sure I should be proud of her lying abilities! Here were her three items:

1. I had heart surgery at 2 weeks old

2. I was on the front page of the newspaper

3. I’ve seen all the Harry Potter movies.

Mine were:

1. I met my boyfriend of almost three years online

2. I am a graduate student in counseling

3. I had the first speaking line in the movie “The Sisters” filmed in Eugene

(I must add that Car piped up during my section: “She met Chad on Mate.com!” Umm, close but no.)

After dinner, we went to the game room/kitchen area and played Bookopoly, which is basically Monopoly except the properties are books, the houses are bookstores,and the hotels are libraries. It was just getting interesting when Car decided we were done and wanted to go back to the room to get ready for bed…it was 9pm at this point. Car did some more writing in her journal and we finally crawled in bed where I read and she played some games beside me on the Kindle.

It was soon clear that unless I also turned off the light and put my book down, she wasn’t going to fall asleep, so finally a bit after 10pm we called it a night. I imagine if I would have seen Car when she woke up in the morning it would have looked like this: stirring, yawning, stretching, slightly opening her eyes, realizing where she was, then jumping out of the bed! Running around! Opening the windows! Playing with the stuffed animals! Trying on hats! When I finally opened my eyes, she was perched at the desk playing solitaire.  I convinced her to let me take a shower before we headed down to breakfast where I watched my daughter consume an entire plate of eggs, three scones, two slices of berry cobbler, a glass of juice and a piece of toast.

After breakfast, Car wanted to explore the top room of the hotel which houses books and a few puzzles and games. She tinkered while I sat and read, staring at the foggy beach, and thinking about what the next few days held for my life.  Needless to say, I was wishing I could have stayed in that little chair next to my sweet girl a lot longer.

Back to the room to pack up and we were off, an entirely too quick but VERY fun trip to the beach.  To say Carsyn loved the hotel would be an understatement…she was literally giddy the entire time, and her loving it somehow made me love her even more. (Didn’t know that was possible!) I couldn’t help but think of all the fun things we have to look forward to, and I truly hope and pray that we always have such a good time together.  She is such a blessing!

I think this smile on Car's face sums up our trip quite well

“Family Trip” PART II

So…where was I?

Oh right, Monday.  Chad and I finally got a night OUT of the house, which was a huge reason why we brought a babysitter. Unfortunately, due to my little puke-fest, we had to postpone our one night out with my friends Jen and Paul, so I was very happy when we were able to meet them Monday.  Definitely a highlight of my trip!

Tuesday again Carsyn woke with no fever, so we all went to the pool for the morning so the boys could swim, and then we headed to Bend for what promised to be the highlight of the trip for the 11 and under crowd: Sun Mountain Fun Center, Powell’s, and Flatbread Pizza.

When we arrived at SMFC, Jason was awfully excited about this very large tumbleweed and asked me to take his picture:

The kids all played games, won tickets, and then used their tickets to get what I can only describe as crap. But hey, they were happy:

Then off to Powell’s, a huge candy shop with basically any possible candy option you could ever want. The kids were told their spending limit and immediately dispersed, and I may or may not have left Chad and the kids in said candy store and sneaked to a little coffee shop across the street…

After Powell’s we went to Flatbread, a favorite restaurant from our time living in Bend that has now turned in to a favorite Oxenaoli restaurant and Sunriver tradition. We all love the fondue, and the kids get to make their own pizzas.  Here they are hard at work on their creations:

After dinner, we had a mellow night where we intended to watch movies but ended up watching episode after episode of 19 Kids and Counting while I simultaneously worked on finishing up a final project I had to turn in Wednesday when we got home.  Ahhh, procrastination!

Wednesday we packed up, the kids got to play a little bit longer outside, and we were on the road by 11. Here’s the crew just before we loaded up in the car:

Don’t we look like one big happy family? It only took a little bribing to get those smiles…

A little bit of cuteness on the car ride home:

When we got back to town, we dropped Emily off at home first, and let’s just say the energy level in the car was HIGH! At one point, as we were almost to my apartment and I knew that our time together was coming to a close, I just burst into laughter. What else can you do? Two kids were singing Jingle Bells, two kids were fighting, and we were all just DONE!

After Chad took the boys to meet up with their mom, I got Carsyn back into the doctor as her fever was still spiking and my mom gut said something was still not right.  The doc said one of her ears was a 9 out of 10 in regards to severity of infection, the other was a 5. He changed her to a stronger antibiotic and ear drops. I finally felt like things were going to get better! (And they have!)

Thursday the kids went back to their dad’s house, and the relaxing, restful, adult only portion of the vacation began! Good food! Good wine! Movies! Trivia night at a bar with friends! Naps! Reading! Laughing! Antique shopping!

And the reason for all this crazy…for the chaos and the laughter and the fighting…for the four kids who love each other and hate each other all within a matter of moments…for the tears and the exhaustion…is because two people fell in love, are still in love, and kind of like each other a lot, too.

“Family Trip” PART 1

On Tuesday I was talking to a friend/classmate of mine about how our vacation was going. Okay, to be completely honest, I was complaining about being on the vacation from HELL. She laughed and said, “See, that is your problem, you are thinking of it as a vacation. YOU are on a family trip.”  How right she was!

Our family trip was supposed to be in Lake Tahoe with the final night at Circus Circus in Reno. I imagined sledding, long walks with Chad, games, movies, laughter, and all sorts of other fun activities.  Then Mother Nature decided to interrupt our plans, and we made a last minute change to cancel Tahoe and head to Sunriver instead.  The immediate peace I felt when we made this decision was immeasurable, and I believe it was completely a Holy Spirit thing, because I had no idea at the time how much this decision would affect my next few days.

On Friday morning I got a call that Carsyn had stayed home sick. There was a stomach bug going around at her dad’s house, so I figured we were going to be facing a few days of illness but that she would be back to normal by Sunday.  Here’s a shot that sums up the drive over:

She only vomited once in the car, and as gross as it was, it was also a pretty sweet moment. After I had emptied her bowl, rinsed it out and got her all cleaned up, she muttered in her sweet little voice, “Thank you for taking care of me, Mommy.”

I will let you use your imagination as to how the other kids reacted to her vomiting in the car.

That night was spent setting up the house and giving Carsyn a hot bath.  The next day saw no change to her fever, although the vomiting had stopped. Chad and I left the kids with Emily (yes, we brought a babysitter, which was the BEST DECISION EVER!) and took a long walk. We imagined we’d be doing this daily. This was the only walk we took the entire trip, but it was a lovely hour and a half!

So our usual Sunriver activities include daily trips to the indoor pool, bike rides, park adventures, and then a few places in Bend (10 mins away) that the kid’s love. Saturday we were able to hit the park and the pool, but unfortunately we always had to leave Car and one adult behind, which ended up being more of pain than it should have been. (“I want you to come, Mommy!” “No, I want you to come, Dad!” “Jodi, you go and I will stay here with Carsyn.” “Oh no Chad, I insist, YOU go and I will stay back with Carsyn.”)

Then Sunday…the day she was supposed to turn the corner, nothing changed. I had asked Ashton to go on a coffee date just him and I, because I felt like I hadn’t been able to connect with him at all.  So we drove to Bellatazza where we read the paper and I had the chance to discuss the case of Trayvon Martin with him, something I had wanted to do since I heard about the horrible story.  And he understood that life isn’t fair and the people still judge based on the color of skin, and as much as his little ten year old mind could process it, he did.

That afternoon we drove into Bend to see Big Miracle. We were very late and there were only a few individual seats scattered around the room. The theater is in a hotel and the seating area is made up of couches, coffee tables, and chairs.  I sent Emily and Carsyn to seats close to each other on one side, Ty and Ashton were literally in front sitting in chairs staring STRAIGHT UP at the screen (my neck hurt watching them), Jason ended up on a side by himself, and Chad was in the back. I found a seat close to the girls where I could keep an eye on all the kids. Carsyn ended up sleeping through most of the movie.

And then, during the movie, I started to feel a twinge. Just a little something not right in my stomach. I ignored it, said I must be hungry, forced myself to pretend it was my imagination, but alas, I was the one in bed vomiting by the time we got back to Sunriver. And thank God we had Emily, because as I laid in bed immobile, I heard her make dinner, clean up dinner, and make cupcakes with the kids.

And my sweet man proved once again that he must love me, as he emptied my vomit bowl and brought me wash cloths and checked on me throughout the evening.  I ended up feeling well enough after the kid’s bedtime to watch a few shows on the Kindle with him, then at 11p Carsyn came in sobbing and holding her ear.  I googled home remedies for ear pain and checked to see if there were any Urgent Care locations in Sunriver open (there weren’t). I gave her meds and she slept fairly well through the night.  The next morning she said there was glue coming out of her ear. Lovely. I made a few calls and decided to head straight to Urgent Care in Bend. Chad wasn’t thrilled with the idea of my driving her alone, as he figured the only reason I wasn’t still in bed was adrenaline, so the three of us hopped in the car and off we went!

Major ear infection and one ruptured ear drum was the prognosis. We got our antibiotics and headed back to Sunriver to meet up with the rest of the crew who had been bike riding and playing at the park.  We then decided to head back to Bend so the boys could hike up Pilot Butte and we could find a park to let them play at for a bit. Let’s just say nothing went as planned and leave it at that. Despite the looks on the faces of these three boys, they made it ten minutes at the park, and about half way up the Butte. No one was in the mood to cooperate.

PART II to come…including more ruptured ear drums! More trips to the doctor! More antibiotics! And perhaps a few laughs here and there…

Weekend “In Review”

I tried really hard to soak in the weekend, to stop every once in a while and just BE, but as always, time moved to quickly.

Friday night my kids went to celebrate their dad’s birthday, so I watched Hugo with Chad, Jason and Ty.  Okay…I must say I had heard nothing but amazing things about Hugo.  My kids both loved it. People I knew raved about it. Maybe I had too high of expectations because I was b.o.r.e.d. Some parts of it were very cute, but overall I felt like it moved at snail speed and I had a strong need to multi-task.  I had to leave to meet the kids, so I missed the ending.

Saturday morning, Chad and boys came over for breakfast. I made green eggs and green pancakes…

It was not a success. One child refused to eat green eggs, and one child refused to eat any of it. There was also entirely too many inappropriate/disgusting comments (i.e. “You’re not supposed to PUKE in the pancake batter!”). It was more frustrating than fun, and ended with me saying that there will never again be green food on St. Patty’s day.

Chad and I snuck out on the back deck with some coffee to enjoy a few moments of quiet (two kids were playing video games, one was pouting about the green food, and one was playing alone).  I asked what happened at the end of Hugo. Chad said, “They all died.” It says a lot about my interest in the movie that I knew he was teasing, but I didn’t really care what actually happened, nor did I really care if they had all died.

We all re-convened in the living room to play our new favorite addiction: Draw Something. It’s basically a Pictionary app and we are all hooked! This is a pretty good picture of what you could have seen had you been around us this weekend: two people huddled around a screen watching someone play.

Ashton had plans to hang out with a friend at 12:30pm and Jason had rehearsal, so the rest of us went to play some Mini Golf and eat some pizza. My ability to get par or birdie on each hole, as well as my hole-in-one, had me thinking quite a bit about getting back on the actual golf course again someday. Then I remembered my inability to hit a ball off a tee and quickly changed my mind.

And now we are at Saturday night…I’m feeling a bit like Saturday night should be described by the Vegas tag line: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Therefore, I will plead the fifth and just say it was a fun night.

On a somewhat related note, this is the outfit my daughter wore after her shower Saturday. The instructions were to put on pajamas for the night…

Sunday during mass the kids were exhausted. Ashton and Carsyn were both hanging on me, laying on me, etc. One of the readings included the phrase, “Wake, O sleeper!” which led Ty to turn to Ashton, who had his eyes closed and was tipped over, and say: “Wake up O sleeper!” It took extreme self-control to not burst into laughter.

After mass we were off to see Jason in the musical Peter Pan at the Hult Center. Here is Jason on stage as Michael Darling. He is in the footy pajamas, second in from the left. It was a fun performance and Jason did awesome.

(Side note: Chad and I were not sitting together, and during intermission when I checked my phone, I noticed that he had texted me: “I think this is slower than Hugo!” I said it was a fun performance and Jason did awesome, I did not say it moved quickly. In fact, I found myself eating pieces of candy from my purse to stay awake. You don’t have pieces of candy floating around the bottom of your purse? Then clearly you don’t have 8, 9, 10 and 11 year old’s around you on a regular basis using your purse as their own personal pocket, nor do you frequent restaurants with candy dishes full of mints at the counter.)

We headed to pizza after the show with Jason’s godparents (a.k.a. Chad’s first cousin’s once removed, a.k.a. Aunt Susie and Uncle Jimmy) and Paige and Nina. I was starting to fade at this point. Fatigue. Stuffed nose. Inability to effectively communicate with my partner. All of it was beginning to take its toll and I needed some quiet.

The rest of the night was spent lounging on the couch while the kids watched Harry Potter and I played Draw Something. About five minutes before bedtime, Ash did something to his sister that resulted in me sending both of them to bed and calling it a night. When I went to tuck him in, he told me I didn’t need to help him, he was fine, etc. (When do you stop tucking your kids in? I am just not there yet, I guess.) As I walked out he said, “Mom, sorry about what I did to Carsyn. I’m just not in a good mood tonight.” I was seriously impressed with his ability to not only apologize on his own but to recognize his bad mood.

And since he is not in a single one of the pictures from the weekend, here is Ashton and his basketball trophy from last week’s end of season party:

In 5 days we head to Tahoe.

2 adults plus 4 kids plus 1 babysitter equals what promises to be yet another crazy, fun, exciting, eventful Oxenaoli vacation!

xo

I had a Kodak moment this morning with no way to record it.

My kiddos needed to get their backpacks out of the car, and Ashton decided to grab my big new orange IKEA umbrella to use at the bus stop. I said that was fine, but he had to share with his sister.

And then I stood there in the rain watching them walk away, both wearing heavy coats, both the same height, looking huge, cuddled under the big orange umbrella. I had no way to record the moment, so I imprinted it in my brain, feeling that familiar tug at my heart that all mom’s understand. Time is moving too quickly. My babies are no longer babies. Every day I am reminded of this fact, and it really is a new and terrifying world.

Quote of the day: Found the following entry in Carsyn’s homework journal for school:

“Ghost’s are not real. They are fake. I have heard about bloody ghosts and scary ghosts. I even heard about a ghost named Bloody Mary. If you say her name in the bathroom mirror three times she shows up. I tried it. It didn’t work. She didn’t show up. Ghost’s are not real.”

overwhelmed

Am I the only one who is feeling more and more overwhelmed every day? Between Twitter, Facebook, TV, blogs, talk radio, newspapers, magazine, etc. It is getting harder and harder for me to stay in reality…in the moment.

I love Pinterest, but after 5 minutes on there I am completely immobile. Suddenly there are 20 crafts I want to try and 50 recipes I need to make. I literally cannot process it. And Facebook, keeping up with so many other people’s lives…knowing what my friend from high school had for breakfast or who is currently getting a divorce. And Twitter, Kim K just did yoga. Do I really need that information in my day?

They have chickens? I want chickens! Look at that garden! I miss having a garden. Where’s the sunshine. When’s my next sunny vacation? Look at their dinner…candles and a tablecloth! I just heated up a Lean Cuisine and ate it alone on the couch. I need to read that article. I need to watch that video clip. Green pancakes, Cake Pops, oh look at that homemade birthday cake. Look at that wreath made entirely out of thumbtacks! I should try that! What was I doing again? Can’t remember.

Yesterday it was sunny outside. I sat in my living room, in my normal place, staring at the tree out my window (I can hear my bff now: “Uhh! You and that tree!” Apparently I discuss my tree a lot.) and it looked warm. I know that looks can be deceiving.  It can appear to be 70 degrees when in fact it is 17. So what did I do? Did I go walk out on my back deck and see if it was cold or warm? Of course not. I just went to weather.com. It was 41. I stayed inside.

On Sunday, Chad and I went to Starbucks before church to get coffee and breakfast. We sat side by side in leather chairs. We didn’t speak. I read and played Words with Friends on my Kindle. Chad read and played on his phone. A woman asked me if it was the Kindle Fire and if I liked it and what I was doing on it, etc. I said I was playing Scrabble…with him (and pointed to Chad). She laughed. I am not exactly sure if that was the most pathetic moment of my life, but it felt like it at the time.

I get the irony in complaining on a blog about what is happening in our culture, but seriously. I’m starting to lose it a bit. I cannot do it all. I cannot read it all. I cannot watch it all. I can no longer take it all in. My brain needs a vacation.

I’m just venting. I have no immediate plans to cut off my cable, quit Facebook or this blog that no one reads…but I have been dreaming about moving to the country, spending more time outside (with my chickens, perhaps?), and avoiding Twitter altogether. And perhaps playing a REAL game of Scrabble with my man very, very soon.

 

My Weekend…

Had a fabulous weekend…the only thing missing was a nap. Surprisingly, I have not had a good weekend nap in quite a while. If you know me at all, you know this is NOT normal.

So Happy Monday! Not much to report, so here are some things I suggest you check out, because they are  cool:

* Chad and I decided to peruse some new-to-us antique shops this weekend in Springfield. Was pleasantly surprised by this location and this location. Highly recommend!

* Read this awesome book. Now planning to read everything else he has written.

* Saw this movie and laughed a lot, but not sure it needs to be seen in the theater.

(And do you know what Wanderlust means? We didn’t, so we looked it up. This is the definition: Wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to hike, wander or travel and explore the world.)

I have a bit of that!

I am thinking I might try this show…despite the fact that my television watching is becoming a bit out of hand…let’s see…I watch 6 hour long weekly shows, 7 half hour weekly sitcoms, at least 2 reality half hour shows, 3 hour long talk shows (these are daily!), I catch most SNL’s, Portlandia clips, and I’m sure I am forgetting something. Thank God for my Kindle as I can watch on my own time, but that’s a lot o’ TV.

And lastly, saw an amazing interview of Randy Roberts Potts, the grandson of Oral Roberts. There is a lot of info out there about him, but this story in Details magazine sums it up best. Good stuff. Oh, and just to make one last point on a similar subject” Kirk Cameron, shame on you.