Random thoughts

• Work is crazy busy- but I hear that is a sign of job security. I'll take that as a good sign.
  
• We went to buy the kids' costumes last night. They were half price at Wal Mart so they both cost a grand total of $19. Whoop-ee! I let the kids pick their own, within reason, and I was shocked at Carleigh's choice. She picked Batgirl. I have to tell you that it is a cutie patootie costume, but she passed over several frilly pink things to get to it. She's very well rounded, I believe!
  
• I just found out that a friend of mine was on American Gladiators! I knew she was in shape, but this is still a shock. She's the mother of three children under 6 and dresses conservatively. But she posted a picture of herself in "character"- bikini, spray tan, etc.- and WOW! I wish I had taken her up on her offer to get me on a work out schedule back when we worked out at the same gym in Arlington.
  
• We've made plans on how to spend the holidays. We will go camping/hunting with my family for Thanksgiving and we are going to Omaha for Christmas! I am about 5% sad that we won't spend Christmas here in the house, but 95% thrilled to be going to Nebraska! We haven't been in almost 2 years and have I said this before? I love it there!

Smells like teen spirit

I had some extra time this morning so I played with Carleigh's hair a little bit. I broke out the round brush, the moose (OK- I know that isn't the moose I mean, but for the life of me I can't think of how to spell the hair product that sounds like the animal...), and the blow dryer. Poor thing has about an inch of growth on the top of her head forward, but the rest is four to five inches long. So there wasn't much I could really do, but Carleigh enjoyed the attention and it sort of resembled cotton candy in the back when I was done. I took my new can of hairspray and lightly sprayed her hair. She immediately asked "What is that smell like?"

And it all came rushing back to me.

You see- I had bought, for the first time in at least 10 years, a can of Aussie. The big, purple, aerosol can. It was on sale and I picked it up for the price. Maybe it wasn't as big of a deal in your lives, but in mine, it meant being a teenage girl. My brother's girlfriend wore it, and I thought she was the coolest, so it has always reminded me of coolness. I've always tried to describe the scent, but have always come up short. Grape? Maybe, but not really. So I call the scent "purple". I think I smelled like "purple" for the majority of my high school career. My brother smelled like "cheap cowboy" (aka Stetson cologne) his entire high school career, and since we shared a bathroom, I probably smelled like Stetson in Jr High.

Smells trigger memories, don't they? My friend Elizabeth commented on the smell of Little Italy yesterday, and I immediately associated my own memory with that. There is a certain air freshener that reminds me of the time my cat had kittens in my closet, and that is not a good memory, so I can never buy that brand of air freshener. Cotton seed is home, fresh cut grass is being a kid in Baytown, Polo cologne is the halls of my high school, diesel is my time in the Army, etc.

And standing in the bathroom fixing Carleigh's hair this morning, I realized that some day soon, she will associate a scent with being a teenage girl. Maybe it will also be "purple", although I doubt it. I'm sure Aussie products will be considered old school by the time she has a choice in her hair products. I wonder what smell my kids will associate with home?

What smells are triggers for your memories? Now I'm curious about the rest of you! And what scent would you say Aussie hair products has?

Mixed emotions

My heart hurts for my friends who are going through some rough stuff, but at the same time, I see their circumstances as chances to be grateful for what I have. Of course I don't wish these things on anyone, especially my best friends, but is it wrong to draw comfort from the fact that I am not going through the same thing? My husband is employed and our marriage is strong. Our kids are healthy. Last night we watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition and I was crying 3 minutes in to it- the family they helped has a 10 year old boy who has been through enough medical crap to last three life times. I looked at Jonas and told him to come give me a hug. He said "No, cuz you just want to hug me because that story is making you sad. You can hug me when you are happy to see me." Ouch.

On a side note- my right arm is sore this morning because a)we went bowling yesterday for the first time in 6 months and b) I carried a 8 pound pumpkin (the pumpkin was decorated as Super Diaper Baby, BTW) to school for Jonas this morning. So I need to either bowl more often, and with my left hand (can't make my game worse) and I need to get some hand weights and carry them with me every time I walk Jonas to and from school. I'll have arms like Madonna before Christmas!!!

Bloom where you are planted

I had to drive to Irving on Thursday for a training class for work. As I crested a hill just north of Ennis on 45, I caught my first glimpse of downtown Dallas in over a year. It was a clear fall day as a cold front had just blown through, and the dark clouds in my rear view contrasted the bright sun dramatically. I was suddenly struck with a sadness I didn't expect. A longing I thought was gone. Earlier in the drive, as I passed stately Sam Houston in Huntsville, I realized it had been almost exactly 2 years since we had made the drive going the opposite way for Craig's interview that led to our move from Arlington to the Bay Area. So the distance between Huntsville and Ennis had been filled with thoughts of what has happened in the past 24 months. Great thoughts, happy memories, chuckles, amazement of how good God is and how happy we are. So I was completely taken aback when the tears filled my eyes at the sparkly sight of D-town.

You see, Dallas is HUGE in my life. I wasn't born there or even raised there. But when I was 15 we went to Dallas to compete in a Mock Trial competition and I was hooked. The lights, the sounds, the sights!! Next, the summer between my junior and senior year my brother got married in Dallas and it was magical. Even the sounds that came from the bathroom around 2 am when one of my brother's friends had returned to the room with a woman he had met on the elevator still stand out in my mind...but that's another story.

So I went to college in Denton, just north of Dallas. I learned to drive in traffic near the Galleria (thanks Sara!) and had cheese fries at Snuffers on lower Greenville (thanks John). I went to a Cowboy's pre-Super Bowl pep rally and I shopped at Sam Moon. I ran at White Rock Lake and danced at Billy Bob's (yes, that's Ft Worth, but hey- that's part of the DFW experience). I got my tatoo in Deep Ellum. Oh- and I met Craig in Dallas, he proposed in downtown Dallas, we bought our first house, had both of our children. We celebrated his passing his State Boards at Reunion Tower. I started working at Citi, made some amazing friends at Irving Bible Chruch and Pantego Bible Church, and I finally saw Huey Lewis LIVE at Bass Hall. Is there any doubt that DFW is huge in my life?

And here we are in League City. And this is why it's going to be huge in my life, too!

• Jonas started Kindergarten here
• Carleigh learned to ride a bike here
• We helped plant Church at the Springs
• We experienced our first hurricane
• Jonas discovered he loves books here
• Carleigh started gymnastics
• Jonas started soccer
• I learned I LOVE mojitos and moroccan food
• KSBJ is waayyyy better than KLTY
• Gringos
• Baytown Seafood Company
• HEB
• the kids both had chicken pox

...and we're only getting started! Even if we left tomorrow we would already have some big stuff under our belts.

I'm really glad I was able to briefly visit DFW yesterday. It is a great area and I will always love it, but I was so glad to get HOME last night.

Everything here is temporary

Laughter
Pain
Heat
Cold
Smiles
Aches
Urges
Tantrums
Nightmares
Hunger
Thirst
Things
People


But souls are eternal. And every single human has one. I must remember this.

The wildlife around here

Last night, a few minutes after we had put the kids to bed, we hear pounding of feet above us and then down the stairs. Jonas ran in to the living room, eyes wide open, saying "Did you see them????" "Them" ended up being a pair of racoons in our backyard. Brave little suckers, too. We sat in the living room and watched through full size windows, back porch light on, as Racoon A timidly picked through the grass where I had earlier shaken out our dining room table cloth. Racoon B, on the other hand, must have thought we had hidden the good stuff a little higher, as he (she? I don't know- do you know how to tell the difference?) proceeded to climb up the post supporting our covered porch and investigate up there. I had no idea a racoon could climb like that! Then again, this was my VERY first time watching them in action from 3 feet away. They could sing and dance the samba for all I know! It was fun for about five minutes, then Jonas got bored and wanted to go pet one. We convinced him this was not the best idea and sent him back to bed, and the racoon couple slowly made their way back to the shrubs at the back of our yard. Ah- the joys of suburbia!

An enigma

How can one person simutaneously make you want to clone him and strangle him? This is my current opinion of my eldest, Jonas. In one 24 hour period I have had butterflies in my stomache at the mere sight of him, and had to pray to God to control my hands so I didn't whack him across the face. I have been so proud of him I could bust, and so eager to change him I could cry. How is this possible?
First, he has a face that is a great combo of me and Craig, so how can that not evoke love? He has these gray blue eyes that are exactly the color of mine, and a splash of freckles across his nose. He has a cleft in his chin just like my first love- Huey Lewis. (I know I know...pathetic) And his hair is exactly the length I like it right now. Throw in some missing front teeth and you have a sight to melt this mom's heart!
Then there were the glowing words from his teacher last night at Open House. He's polite, and empathetic, able to participate in all conversations and eager to share. He's a great kid! (I might have knocked some other parents over as I walked through the hallways after that with my swollen pride).
Another glowing moment came yesterday at the grocery store when he asked if we could put some food in the "Help End Hunger" basket. And at dinner last night he asked if we could put a basket on the end of our street with a "Help End Hunger" sign and collect food for all the hungry people on our own. His heart is huge! (Did I tell you about the starving children incident? I'll have to tell that story some other time.)
But then there were the bedtime arguments and one o'clock whining sessions. The attitude when I told him it was time to get dressed and to stop building Lego's. I won't go in to those details.
So it's hard to be Jonas' mom, I think. Two sides of the same coin, I think. But I know the love wins. I just hope I can remember that the next time the other side of this child shows his ugly face (which could easily be at 3:10 this afternoon when I pick him up at school)

Badge of honor?

I follow the blog of my favorite dj, Liz Jordan on KSBJ, and she posted this yesterday. I had to steal it, as it is perfect!

I've been accused of wearing this badge. Hmmmm. Should I be proud or not?