My Husband Might Leave Me Over This

What do you think? Should I go for it? I've been mulling this haircut over for months. I found a fun site where you can upload your picture and then try on new hairstyles. 

 I haven't had my hair really really short for years. Probably not since the time I was twelvish and some man at the airport thought I was a boy. That wasn't much positive reinforcement. 

The problem is one. MJ.  He only likes long hair.  Do I dare? 

You Can't Take It With You When You Go

As I was packing up my house tonight, I thought of the old cliche: You can't take it with you when you go--supposing, I imagine, that when you pass on to your reward, you can't take any earthly possessions with you. To this I say, "Thank heavens for that!

Packing and clearing out closets and drawers lately has made me wonder how in the world I have accumulated so much stuff. I've always thought I was pretty good at getting rid of things but the masses of boxes in my living room tell otherwise.  Being free of all the junk is definitely one positive for dying. Honestly, I think when a person dies they get the better deal. They get to go on up to the spirit* in the sky (as the song goes) while the rest of us down here are left to sort through and pack up all the junk they left behind. 

So to all my family and friends, I'm going to make it easy on you. When I pass on, just put all my stuff in one big pile and burn it. See, how easy is that? Pick out anything you want and then just torch it.  Have a bonfire party and roast some brats and marshmallows and I'll be with you in spirit.

Ok, ok there might be a few things I don't want to be rid of just yet. I probably should be rid of them so I could be more productive but where would the joy in life be?  What things are on your must-have list? Mine include my computer, my bed, my DVD of North and South. Yes, I was re-watching it again today when I should have been packing. Actually, I was watching Katie's DVD because mine is packed. I must admit I am once again in love with Mr. Thornton. Sigh.

Anyway, this talk of packing has probably prompted some questions.  Here are the answers:

Yes, we sold our house.

We have to be out of it in about a week.

No, we don't have a new house to move into. Each time we put an offer in, the sellers refuse to sell it to us.

We might get an apartment or we might travel for a while. We've been talking about parents' houses, Florida, Mexico, the British isles.

Well, that's about it. Yes, this has definitely been another strange and random post brought to you by My Other Job Is With the CIA.

*For you gospel scholars, yes, yes I know that the Spirit in the sky is technically not a spirit but has a glorified body of flesh and bones. But that would kind of ruin the catchiness of the song, don't you think? Hmmm, was this how false doctrine crept into the early Church?  To make the pop music of the day easier to sing?

Barfing Is Ruining My Social Life

Michael was out of town last week on a biking trip in West Texas. It was me and the kiddos 24-7 with no changing of the guard. I wasn't too worried about it. He travels fairly often and since I'm a fairly independent gal, it's not that big of a deal. Usually, the kids and I eat cereal for dinner and watch movies in his office. Then I stay up late painting rooms in my house. This time around I had all sorts of social events lined up.

The first event was enrichment on Thursday night with free babysitting--a whole uninterrupted hour to chat with all my favorite girls. I rushed straight over from Emma's soccer practice and dropped my two older kids off in the nursery. Hurrah! I planned to send Isaiah in there as soon as I had fed him some dinner.

When I got into the cultural hall, everyone was already eating or waiting in line to get their food. Since I was supposed to pass out some visiting teaching surveys that night, Isaiah and I went from table to table passing out papers. That's when Isaiah decided to make the evening truly memorable.

As I was counting to see how many papers I needed to pass down the row, Isaiah let loose with the wet and chunky. All over me and the papers. I turned quickly away from the dinner table. Isaiah still had more to go so I crouched down and tried catching the rest of it in my skirt. I don't exactly know why I decided to catch it on myself. It sounds kind of silly now. But I think I was hoping nobody would notice that my baby was barfing all over me during the Relief Society dinner. I was hoping there would be no mess or disruption and I could just quietly escape. It's not really the thing you want to be known for. Oh, you're the lady whose baby barfed all over her last week.

I was noticed of course. My friend asked me if I was ok.

"Sure," I said. "But we're going to need to make a few more copies of those surveys." I didn't think anybody would want to fill them out at that point.

So I went home straightaway. After something like that, there's only one thing you can do: go home. I suppose I could have washed my shirt out in the sink, but Relief Society dinners are not really the place for wet T-shirt contests.

Well, by the time Saturday rolled around, all the kids had been barf-free for over 24 hours. My sister-in-law was going to watch all three kiddos while I attended a wedding in San Antonio. I was excited to go. I was looking forward to visiting with extended family.

That is, yes, until....Evan, a.k.a. "The Fire Hose," decided to unload in his bedroom. Really, is it too much to ask to make it into the toilet, or the sink instead of all over the dresser and wall and bed and carpet? Just wondering, that's all.

At least it wasn't all over me this time. So much for my social life.

Too Good For Birthday Cake

Isaiah just turned one.  He was not so impressed.  We stood around with cameras ready as he stared down his slice of birthday cake.  He looked at it suspiciously.  He didn't break a smile. When I finally tried to feed him a little bite, he cried and shook his head back and forth. Seriously, that picture is him at his birthday happiest.

I think he could sense that he was getting third-child treatment and decided to act accordingly. "So you think you can get away with no birthday presents, Mom? I'll show you. I'm not eating any of this homemade cake.  And next year you better have this party catered with a bounce house, pony and thirty of my buddies or you won't get one single happy face from me."

The Tooth Fairy Pays Us a Return Visit

Emma lost her first tooth after weeks of showing us how much she could wiggle it.  She was so excited to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy.  Thankfully, she didn't remember the last time the tooth fairy visited our house.  You see, the tooth fairy has been to our house before.

Someone--I won't mention my name--was fed up with cavities and candy a couple years back. Emma had gone to a birthday party and come home loaded with junk in her goody bag. This came right on the heels of an expensive dental visit.  So after finding Emma sneaking candy between meals, this person came upon the bright idea of having the tooth fairy come and exchange the candy for a crisp dollar bill.  After all, Emma loves money just as much as candy. Right?

Wrong. Emma does not love money just as much as candy.  She loves candy more.  The results were catastrophic.  Emma was enraged.  There were tears and screaming and death threats against the tooth fairy.  The tooth fairy was enemy number one at our house.

But fortunately, time has erased this particular memory.  Welcome back Tooth Fairy.  

My Theatre Dates

As I've posted about before, the kids are huge fans of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  So when I found out it was at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, I jumped at the chance to take them. It was a fun evening.  We had dinner along the Riverwalk and then went to the theatre.  The kids loved it.  I need to be more diligent about planning special events with these guys