My Latest Obsession

So I was challenged by a friend to blog everyday for the month of August.  She is calling it blaugust.  Cute idea.  I haven't posted in quite some time because of work, school, kids being home for the summer, and a whole laundry list of lame excuses.  Bottom line, this will help me get back to writing!  Who knows if anyone will read it though; you all have probably given up on my by now.

One of the things I have been doing lately is, I tried my hand at making my own laundry soap.  Super exciting!  Just call me pioneer mom!  After it was all said and done, I got 8 gallons of laundry soap and it worked out to be just less than a dollar per gallon and I'm all about what is the least expensive way to go.  Plus, I have enough ingredients left over to make several more batches of soap, and it works which is even better.  Our clothes are softer, they are clean and it's all natural.  So that got me thinking, what about other stuff that I can make that will save me money?

I have done some research and I am getting ready to whip up some cool homemade goodies.  My next project to try is body wash, shampoo and deodorant.  Wouldn't it be great to have homemade stuff that doesn't harm us and save me a ton of money while I'm at it?  Yeah, I can't wait to try those things!  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Happy Mother's Day!

Another Mother’s Day.  Wasn’t it here just last week?  Wow, time really flies.  I appreciate all the moms in my life.  My mom, stepmom, sisters, friends, aunts, mother-in-law and my grandma who passed away several years ago.  They are all great examples to me.

Being a mom is not easy.  It is not fun being puked on, peed on, pooped on and spit on or dealing with broken bones, broken windows, scrapes, fights, sickness, lying, bad grades, creepy crawly things they like to pick up, back talk, door slamming, biohazard bedrooms, and still trying to figure out who “wasn’t me” is and kick that person out of the house.  After swapping stories with other moms at work today, I have come to the conclusion that kids are genetically predisposed to embarrass their parents with their public temper tantrums, announcing their bodily functions in a crowded room and their lack of a filter.  Or in my son’s case saying in his not so quiet voice, “Mom, we can’t leave Walmart yet!  We didn’t buy you a new husband!” 

Then just when we start to wonder why we even had kids in the first place, and wonder how in the world we are ever going to get them to adulthood intact, they turn around and make us a card with hand drawn flowers or macaroni telling us how much they love us.  Their sweet smiles and precious hugs make all the frustration and anger melt away.  Then I realize there is no one else in the world who will love me this way.  They are forgiving of my shortcomings and love me no matter what.  They are truly the greatest gift that God has given to me. 

Here is a special shout out to all the single parents out there doing double duty.  Single parents are both moms and dads.  Moms who have to learn how to bait a fish hook and dads who have to learn how to braid their daughter’s hair.  You deserve to be honored on Mother’s and Father’s day and every day!  You are so amazing!

I hope all the moms out there get to spend the day how they want to.  It is nice for moms to be able to hang up their cape for just one day and let someone else save the world.  Thank you moms for all that you do!

Love Letter

Our first writing assignment for class this semester was a love letter.  We had to write a love letter to some THING.  Not a person, but a thing.  Well, that proved to be more difficult that it sounds.  How do you write to something that can't talk back?  We wrote it, had a few classmates critique it, rewrite it, critique it again, and then the final draft.  I am attaching the final draft.  Even though it was difficult to write, it was fun.  I enjoyed reading other letters too.  There were odes to Chocolate, an old pick up, vintage polyester neck ties, the White Mountains, the family dog and Italy.  I am excited about this class.  I am hoping that the grammar rules that have been stuck in the corners of my mind collecting dust, will be freed and I will become a better writer.

 Dear Music,

I have loved you since I was born.  My mom would put you on the record player or the radio to soothe me when I was crying.  It didn’t matter what tune you were, you would always bring me peace.  My grandpa would sit down at his polished black upright piano and play out your melodies for hours. I loved to sit on the piano bench with him while he played you.  Watching his calloused hands move up and down the piano keys, your melodies brought me such joy.

I don’t know how to read you, but I have been humming your notes since before I could talk.  After I learned to talk I started singing your tunes and I haven’t stopped since.  You take over my mind and body and it doesn’t matter where I am, I will just start singing and sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it.  In high school I sang many of your songs in choir and I sang several solos and duets in school and in church.  I tried so hard to learn how to play you on the piano and violin, but to no avail.  I couldn’t grasp reading the bars on paper and interpreting your notes on the instrument.  That hasn’t stopped me from singing though because I can hear you in my mind.

Your melodies are always in my mind and sometimes you encourage me to make up my own.  There are times when the flow of your notes are so powerful and beautiful, that you move me to tears.  You move something deep inside me and touch my very soul.  You can change my mood or stir up a lost and forgotten memory.  Sometimes you make my body move and I just have to dance.

Thank you for sharing your beauty with me and bringing endless hours of joy into my life.  You will be in my heart, body and soul forever.

                                                                                    Love,

What is This Selfie Craze?

The word "selfie" has taken the world by storm.  It is everywhere.  Even my daughter keeps telling me she wants to take a mother/daughter selfie.  I do think some people don't get it though.  I have seen several pictures of public figures where they called it a selfie, but someone else obviously took the picture.

Just to clarify, a selfie is a picture a person takes of themselves.  There can be other people in the picture, but the only photographer is one of the people in the picture.

Phones have made it much easier to take pictures of ourselves too.  They have made it so you can see yourself as you take the picture so you know if you're smiling pretty or if you are actually in the shot.  You can look at the picture immediately and see if it needs to be retaken.  We have come a long way from the film days when you have no idea what your picture will look like until it is developed and you realize your eyes were closed or your hair was sticking up or if you are like me it takes about 20 shots just to get one decent one.  Lately I have needed a picture of myself for this or that and I realized, I don't have very many of me.  I am always the photographer taking pictures of everyone else.  Why?  I hate pictures of myself.  I am not photogenic at all.  When you see a good picture of me, it is after 30 attempts that have failed miserably.  I can only imagine what people would think if I was in public trying to take a selfie.  I would be taking the same shot over and over just trying to get a good one and people thinking, "Dang, that girl really likes taking pictures of herself."  I get set to take the picture, make sure I'm in the shot, smile pretty and snap.  Then I look at the picture and think, "That is not what I saw when I was taking it."  My siblings and my kids are very photogenic!  I have some friends that have perfect smiles in every selfie.  They are so lucky to be able to snap one picture and be done.

I get the whole idea behind a selfie.  Wanting to capture whatever it is you're doing is a great idea.  You go on a trip, to a game, a concert or whatever and there is no one you trust handing your expensive phone over to, but you want a permanent reminder of that time so you take a picture yourself.  Great idea.  It seems lately though I have seen more bathrooms than I care to.  Nothing says sexy like a toilet in the background of your picture.  And my favorite are the duck faces.  Really?  How is that attractive?  Have you seen a real duck?  They are not cute and why would anyone try to copy that?

I would love to see more family and friend selfies, trip selfies, large group selfies and less toilet selfies or weird not so sexy selfies.  That's just me.