It's a Kid's World

Tonight Solomon & I went to a friend's birthday dinner at BJ's Brewhouse (I love their food! But it pales in comparison to Claim Jumper...). I had to use the restroom & when I walked in there were 2 little girls, sisters I think. I started walking into the first stall when the oldest stopped me & said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but that's a kid's toilet. You have to use the bigger one down there for grown-ups," & pointed to the handicap stall. "Oh!" I said as I clearly should've known that, "OK," & went to use the handicap stall to take care of my business.

Solomon & I went walking around our housing area the other day & I checked to see if people have been taking the tear-away tabs on my fliers for the cats. So far 9 tabs have been taken, however I have yet to receive a phone call from any of those people. I'm really annoyed about it.

FAIL

My friend Dave introduced me to this awesome website, failblog.org, today. There are countless pictures & videos that will entertain for hours! Here are a couple of my faves of the ones I've viewed so far:


see more pwn and owned pictures


see more pwn and owned pictures


see more pwn and owned pictures


see more pwn and owned pictures

There's also a video called "Elephant Handler Fail" but I can't figure out how to link it from failblog's site. (Danielle, please don't watch that video. You throw up too easily...)

Se Habla Español

Just something I often wonder:

Certain commercials, namely lawyers & insurance companies, are completely in English. Then at the end of the commercial they say, "Se habla español." How does the Spanish speaking person, who doesn't know English, know what the commercial is for? Do they have to call & ask for a Spanish speaking rep, who they then ask what the organization does? If so, I bet 9 times out of 10 the call turns out to be a waste of the Latino's time, since they need neither a lawyer or insurance, or a lawyer for insurance fraud.

I Guess I Can't Tease My Sister Anymore

It is well known that Danielle has the craziest dreams for which we all make fun of her. I still don't think my dream last night was as weird as her's usually are, but it was pretty strange.

It started when Jason asked me to go to his Jujitsu class with him (& no, I wasn't pregnant in the dream - though that would've made things even more interesting, I'm sure). We were at this gym-type building, out on a back patio bordering a cliff to these wild waterfalls. While we were jujitsu-ing, Pat Sajak was hosting a game of Wheel of Fortune right next to us & the wheel was made of some bouncy, rubber material & painted in primary colors. Mr. Sajak was wearing a navy blue suit but didn't have any shoes on & his feet were orangy tan with pearly pink nail polish on his toes.

Here, the details get a bit hazy, but somehow we ended up in this room on the Black Pearl with tables, chairs & a blackboard - like elementary school. Pat Sajak was teaching the class & he was being super nice (he's rumored to be somewhat of a jackass in real life, but since I've never met him I'm in no position to judge). Then Johnny Depp, in the form of Captain Jack Sparrow, barged in & disrupted the class as we were apparently under attack by another pirate ship.

Some more stuff happened after that, but I can't really remember. I would blame this on watching too much TV, but since Elmo, Nemo, & VeggieTales were absent from the dream, I'm guessing that is not the case.

Trapped

When we moved here 4 years ago we adopted 2 cats, Gabe & Lucy. It was wonderful until we had a baby 2 years later. Then suddenly the fur started bothering me, Lucy started annoying me (she's an attention whore so she doesn't leave me alone; she sleeps on my head if we let her in our room at night), & the litter pans became unbearable. Now that we are moving in less than a year & have another baby due in 8 weeks, we are desperately trying to find new homes for them. We really don't want to take them back to a shelter so I've posted ads on craigslist.org, our church's online classifieds page as well as fliers in our housing area. Gabe & Lucy are already really old for cats (14 & 13 years old) & I know most people prefer younger cats so I don't have high hopes in finding them new homes. I keep trying to come to terms with the fact that we won't have any other choice than taking them to a shelter, which makes me cry about once a week.

Then last night Jason decided that we need to keep them; we made a commitment when we adopted them & we must stick to it. The problem is, we can't keep them when we move. We will be moving in with my parents temporarily until we find a home of our own & my mom is deathly allergic to cats. Even when we do have our own house, we still can't really have cats because then my mom would never be able to come over! I like my mom slightly more than I like my cats so, as heartbreaking as it is, the decision is simple for me -- it's off to the shelter with them.

Is it wrong of me to ask God to take care of them for me? I mean, they are old & not in the best of health - Gabe's obese & Lucy vomits chronically. Natural causes would make everything so much easier...

100% Pure Boy

Yesterday Solomon sat in my lap & played Bloody Knuckles by himself. He just kept punching his fists together really hard saying rather calmly & monotone, "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." I'm wondering if I should at all be worried about a new baby coming home soon.....

Solomon's New Habit

I've had plenty to blog about lately, but either too busy or too tired to write stuff. What better way to break my blogging fast than to talk about poo? Solomon has recently taken to advising us he's poopy by way of sticking his fingers in his diaper & coming to show us "yuckies." It's quite gross, to say the least. I know he's so close to potty training now, but with the new baby on the way in a mere 10 weeks, I really feel we should wait until after the dust settles from her arrival as I'm afraid he'll regress.

All this talk about poo reminds me of this book we bought our friend Dave for his birthday last year. I appreciate that he keeps it on the back of his toilet. If you ever come across it, buy it. It's totally worth it. I promise.

Civil Duties & Chef Solomon

I was summoned for jury duty for which I reported to the court house today. The day consisted of sitting in the same blue chair (at least it was cushioned) & in between the same two people the entire time. Finally, at about 2:30 they called a list of people & said they had to report for trial. The rest of us were dismissed a half hour later. This was quite possibly one of the most boring, wasted days of my life, but at least it got me out of the house for the day.

When I was cooking dinner tonight, Solomon started playing with the knobs on the stove. He tries to turn them often, but hasn't been able to figure out that he has to push them in then turn them. That is, until tonight. I kept pushing his hands away & telling him "no, that's hot," but anyone who knows anything about toddlers knows they are the most determined of creatures. The mac 'n cheese turned out okay, but when I went to pull the main course out of the oven, I discovered that Solomon had cranked it all the way up to above 500, almost to broil. The sad beef patties were nice & crunchy on the bottom & had shrunk to a quarter of their normal size. At least the potatoes, carrots, & onions turned out perfect. Guess this means we have to childproof our stove now.

I Think I May Very Well Run Away From Home

Jason's tonsillectomy was this past Friday so I've been doing everything myself since then.  I normally do most household things myself anyway (since I've been jobless), but Jason is always available to entertain Solomon if I'm cooking dinner or washing dishes.  Not to mention that Jason is waaay better at entertaining Solomon than I am; our kid definitely has a strong preference for this father.  Since Jason's surgery, Solomon has been a royal pain in the rear the majority of the time.  His tantrums have increased in frequency & intensity - he knows daddy is upstairs in bed, so all he wants is to be in our bed, jumping on daddy.

This afternoon Jason asked me to take Solomon out of the house for a while as the boy wouldn't stop screaming & running crazy, so we went to the Spectrum (a nice outdoor mall).  Solomon did okay at first, until we stopped at Johnny Rocket's for dinner.  I was rearranging the seats at our table so I could put Solomon in a highchair when all of a sudden the whole stroller flipped backward!  Solomon was pushing off the table with his foot until he knocked himself over!  I was so embarrassed!!  It was a little funny though, so I couldn't help but laugh too.  Anyway, another father had to come help me because I couldn't get the damn thing back upright.  Then Solomon decided he didn't want to sit in the highchair & started flailing about when I tried to put him in it.  I then gave him a few cookies, hoping it would calm him down until we could get some fries or something, but he just threw them.  He did eat a couple, but not until he was finished practicing his curveball.  We waited for more than 10 minutes for a server & I decided I couldn't wait any longer with a wailing, thrashing toddler on my hands.  We headed back home & went through a Taco Bell drive-thru instead.

I cried most of the way home because my kid often manages to make me feel like I'm not cutout to be a mom.  Somehow, I still love him more than anything else God has ever given me.  I'm insane to want to do this a thousand times over.

What Happens in Vegas

I had an awesome week in Vegas!  Saturday we went out on my uncle's boat on the lake; the water was too cold to actually get in but we did get to see some mountain sheep come down to drink the water when we stopped for lunch on a beach.  We didn't do much for Mother's Day.  Jason took me to the restaurant at Texas Station I wanted to go to & just as we were finishing up my uncle walked in, sat at our table, & took our bill (he uses his comp points to treat everyone to meals all the time).  On Monday my cousin, Jarrod, & I went to see Stomp Out Loud (sorry, the video quality is crappy as someone obviously recorded it with a hand-held or something, which they weren't supposed to do) - definitely one of the most entertaining shows I've ever been to.  I've seen it on t.v. before, but it's a completely different experience in person.  I wish I was a badass percussionist like that.

As for the gambling, Jason, I believe, broke even (that's considered a very good thing when you leave Vegas as it is a rarity).  I was down about $60 for the week & then my dad & I played some slot machines & roulette on Thursday.  I won about $90 playing slots then lost $20 because I couldn't stop playing.  Tables intimidate me so I just watched my dad play roulette for a while before I decided to join in.  I started with $50 & by the time I walked away I had nearly tripled my money.  The two times I played my & Jason's anniversary, 25, it hit both times!  The second time it hit, I hit the actual number, that column, red, & odd all at the same time.  My dad made me buy dinner that night.

It was a good week in Vegas.

In Between

Sometimes my love for Jesus is so overwhelming it actually makes me giddy - to the point I want to shout it from the rooftops.

Give me about 3 seconds, though, & I will quickly call someone an AF on the road.

Does this ring true for anyone else, or is it just me?

I'm kinda pissed right now.  On my first paper, I got a high B (87.5, to be exact), which I was fine with.  I knew when I turned it in that it wasn't my best work & I really struggled with transition statements, thus my work didn't flow too well.  I just got my second paper back & I got a freakin' 78!  What the hell??  I worked so much harder on that paper & knew the quality was better than my first, but somehow I scored a whole letter grade lower??  What's even more aggravating is that the instructor didn't add any comments to my paper, so I got a C with no explanation.  I emailed her & asked that she resend it with comments.  It's a good thing she isn't being graded on her stupid writing skills!  You should see the syllabus - it's a grammatical & punctuational mess.

Yep.  Still not working...

(He's saying "Oh no!" in this photo.  I think that's important to note as it makes the picture cuter.)

Top 10 Reasons I Procrastinate:
#1................................
(I'm really not that witty - I got the title from an awesome shirt I saw on randomshirts.com's website.)

I'm supposed to be working on my paper for class right now & intended that it be completed today as well. As you can see, that isn't happening. Somehow, I'm managing to find any little distraction that will keep me from the task at hand. It's due Sunday by 11:59pm EST (which is funny, because Vanguard University is no more than a 15 minute drive from my house, yet their server is on the east coast. Thus, the local students lose 3 hours a day. How does that even make sense?). I turned in a paper last week less than 20 minutes before it was due. I thought that with age, my study habits would've improved. Not so much. (In my defense regarding last week, though, my in-laws were here so I didn't have much quiet time to utilize for schoolwork.)

Maybe I'll just take Relient K's advice & take calligraphy & make a fake degree.

"...and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace."
Psalm 144:12

When thinking of my ideal family composition, I pictured, in this order, three boys & then maybe one girl. I desperately wanted this baby to be another boy in the beginning for several, seemingly logical, reasons. 1) we already have all boy stuff & our place is too little to add girl stuff; I wanted to recycle what is already available. When we move into a bigger place, adding girl stuff won't be as much of an issue. 2) I feel that it is better for brothers to be closer in age instead of a brother & sister. 3) Jason & I have a difficult time agreeing on girl names, but not so much on boy names. Either way, none of this matters now as God apparently has a different ideal for my family composition.

When we learned that our next child was a girl, I was happy, but I didn't shout, "woo-hoo!" & cry like I did when we found out Solomon was a boy. I felt a little guilty for not reveling in the thought of having a daughter. I mean, yeah, I'll get to dress her up for Easter & such, but I just can't get too excited beyond that.

Why do I feel this way?

God so graciously answered this question recently by revealing my heart to me in unmistakable ways. It turns out, I feel less adequate to mother a daughter than a son. I will be the primary example for my daughter, responsible for modeling what a godly woman should look like. I kinda suck at that. It terrifies me more than anything I've ever done before. I don't feel ready for this & I'm fairly certain I will fail. I know how awful I was to my parents growing up, so I'm already dreading the teenage years. On the other hand, maybe having a daughter will inspire me to be a stronger woman of God...

God not only exposed my feelings of inadequacy, but He sparked a deep desire within me to show her what God originally intended for us, His daughters. This world forces its definition of beauty in our faces every day & Satan uses it to whisper lies in our ears that we have to be thin, have flawless skin, big boobs, straight & blindingly white teeth, be wrinkle-free, etc. The Evil One convinces us that we are not beautiful, & in fact, are worthless if we don't meet the standard of beauty the world has set. I do not want my daughter to buy into these false notions & am determined for her to realize her significance in Christ alone. I want her to be free from the chains the world attempts to bind us with. I want her to feel delighted in & loved. She will be "like a pillar carved to adorn a palace."

In-laws are in town.  I want to shoot myself.

I just took my first quiz for my online class; I got a perfect score! :)  Maybe this class won't be so difficult after all.

Our Baby Girl

In Over My Head

I signed up for an online class at Vanguard University to complete the 12 Early Childhood Education (ECE) units required to teach preschool in CA (I only had half when we moved from MD).  It's 5 weeks & very demanding - I'm definitely in over my head.  I've been experiencing a lot of anxiety over this class because it's been years since I've had to write papers & such.  I'm dreading the next 5 weeks.

For "class discussions" we have to post responses to questions from the instructor & comment/build off of other students' postings.  Well, tonight I spent about 3 hours working on my stupid post & upon completion, I hit "preview."  The effing thing kicked me out & I hadn't saved a draft.  I have to start all over from scratch.  I'm pissed not only because my work is gone forever, but also because I spent THREE HOURS working on a simple post!  "Class discussions" should not be so demanding!  I stared crying, nay, SOBBING, & my oh-so empathetic husband says, "Amanda, calm down.  There's nothing you can do about it now.  I've told you before to do your work in Word & save often.  I've done that before & you just have to redo it."  Not exactly what I need to hear when I'm in the middle of a serious emotion/mental meltdown.