The real deal about Christmas

As I stood in line at Best Buy yesterday while my 9 year old threw a tantrum about not getting any money for Christmas, I decided that I was done with the holiday spirit!  Ughhh, i know, i know.  its not what most people blog about, its not all gingerbread men and mistle toe.  But let's face it people, children are children! I took a deep breath and ignored the bad behavior while the rest of the people in line glanced at me from the corner of their eyes.  I know that those who have children, understood and those that didn't... oh well! After we finished paying for our items we headed off to the supermarket, where I left them both in the car.  Yup, mommy needed a time out, but still had to get the essentials for the house.  Needless to say, upon my return, all attitudes had changed.  (I guess sitting in the car without heat or the radio will give you some time to think about things).

I can hear what you are thinking... Christmas is a joyous time of the year! I don't want to come across all Bah humbug, we did have some nice moments of decorating Christmas ornaments, eating lots of cookies and singing some holiday songs.  The oldest, however, is in that stage of awkwardness where he doesn't want to let anyone know he is having a good time! But we dragged him into it!

The younger too, also enjoyed their gifts from Santa and stealing candy canes. Mr. Mr. really liked the lights on the Christmas tree!

The tree came down yesterday, and the toys have been sorted and put away.  There are a few cookies left and as the new year approaches, I am glad it only comes once a year!

An alternative me

With 2011 fast approaching I have been thinking a lot today about New Year's Resolutions.  I must admit that I really don't believe in them.  I have always felt that if you wanted to change something about yourself you should just do it!  Making a list on a certain date doesn't hold you any  more accountable for yourself than any other time of the year. But lately, I have been thinking about different things that I would love to change about myself.  I am an eclectic personality.  Some days I am in my mother role, others, my professional side takes over but mostly I think about how I would want to be more alternative. When I say alternative I mean I have visions of joining a commune, or camping across America during the summer.  There are so many things I want to do and experience but my current lifestyle doesn't really warrant them.  Sure, I have a compost pile and I recycle, but that just doesn't feel like enough.  There is a woman I have encountered at my job that I think is the symbolic sense of who I want to be.  She has dreads and is very creative and makes jewelry.  Its not really the hair or the clothes that i envy its what she represents to me: an alternative life style.  But exactly how does one go about changing yourself?  I think its more about incorporating little by little, the important things into your life and slowly you evolve.  Maybe I've just romanticized about it and when the day comes and I am plowing my own fields and milking my cows, it won't feel so alternative.  For now though, I will keep composting, keep recycling and allow myself to make resolutions all throughout the year.    

Small Town Perks

Last week I had two packages I had to mail out.  The first one was already printed and labeled, the second one was being returned due to a company scam , (more on that later) I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to mail it back but knew that i wanted to be sure it got there.  The local post office up the road from me is not technically my post office.  I live in a small town that does not have its own zip code,so we borrow ours from a neighboring city. The one up the road from me, is a small town post office.  Not only is it convenient but the service is awesome.  The post master helped me pick out what shipping method, then took my invoice, photo copied it so i could keep all the information. He wished me happy holidays on my way out the door.

This really made me think about all the "little" perks I enjoy living in a small town. I can leave my children in the car when I run into the bank. When stopping for my morning cup of coffee, I leave the car on and the man at the local store places a packet of splenda on the counter for me (it's his own private stash) I went to school with the local police officer and several of the volunteer firemen.  The dog warden knows my cell phone number and the junk man comes over for dinner.

Growing up, I couldn't wait to get out of this small town.  I hated everyone knowing my business, I couldn't stand having all eyes on me.  Now as a parent, I cherish these traits. Even though the small town of my youth is fading away to bigger houses and multitude of "citi ins", there still is the small town feel.

If you see any of my children misbehaving, feel free to kick them in the butt and send them home.  I won't be offended!   

It's beginning to look a lot like ....

I've been very quiet over here and over at Lessons From Walker, not because I haven't had much to say, but because I've lacked the time to sit and type it out.  My head is spinning, with a new job, moving back to our old house and all the usual running around with four children.

Today, though, I had to write because I've been feeling very conflicted about the whole "black friday"  hype. I have never done the "Black Friday" shopping, I have friends that make a sport out of it, but personally, i just don't like shopping that much.  Normally, I wouldn't even know what deals were out there but this year funds are a little tighter than usual.  I found myself conflicted with trying to fill Santa's sled with all the items on my boys lists and the empty wallet syndrome as of late. As the time wore on yesterday I was on a roller coaster of decision, yes I was going, no I was not.  It was an internal dialog but in the end, i stayed home.   

It seems that year after year, the sales start earlier and are pumped up to be the event of the season.  TV commercials show women cross training to be ready for the sales, and I can't help but ask myself, is this really what Christmas has become?

I'm not about to go up on a soap box and go on about the true meaning of Christmas because quite frankly, I'm not sure what it means to me.  So from now until December 25th, I hope to embark on a personal journey to find a true meaning for me and my family.  Stay tuned.....

Minty mistake

At 15 months, Sawyer is a ball of energy! She doesn't stop moving, not even in her sleep! When it comes to changing her diaper, it feels more like wrestling an octopus! Last Thursday night was one of these WWF matches on my bed.  What made it worse was that she had had a stomach bug and the contents of her diaper were not only putrid but also making her bum sore and red.  As I hung on to her and finished cleaning her up I asked my oldest son to go into the top drawer of the dresser and grab the butt cream.  He held up a white tube and asked if that was it, since I was still flipping Sawyer back over to her back while simultaneously holding both ankles, i glanced at him and said yes.  I quickly squirted the ointment on to my finger and began to apply it to the many cracks and crevices that belong to my lovely girl.  No sooner had i put the first drop on her skin when the smell of eucalyptus hit my nose.  Right away I realized what the ointment was, it wasn't the butt cream but instead Vick's vapor rub! I immediately wiped it away with a baby cloth and hauled ass into the bathroom putting her in the tub while running warm water. I was really worried about how it would irritate her skin or bother her all night.  Luckily, she didn't seem to notice and thought that my haste was pretty amusing! After her bath I called my sister who works for a gynecologist and double checked that there wasn't much else I could do.  She assured me that my treatment was good and just to watch how her skin reacted to it over night.  Thank goodness!  As parents we can make mistakes and just have to give ourselves some credit.  I am sure that I am not the only one out there that has had blunders with their children, so please share them, Otherwise, if I get a visit from child protective services... i won't be surprised.

Random blog topics

I've been pretty quiet over here on my blog sphere.  Its not that I haven't had ideas for blogging, I've had tons!  Its just that I haven't had tons of time to actually sit and articulate all the madness in my life! So here is a rundown list of what has been going on and the blog topics I had wanted to post:

• We moved back to our small 2 bedroom house in Greenville  Blog topic: Life's U-turns
• Mason attended his first middle school dance. Blog topic: Where does the time go? and Don't make me go back there!! (my dreadful memories of middleschool!)
• Hubby is in a career crisis - Blog Topic: The ups and downs of marriage with special needs.
• I've been working all the extra hours I can - Blog Topic: Hitting the in-law lottery!!

Random topics:
The joys of grocery shopping by myself!
Name that smell.
Sawyer - the destruct!
Painting with ones spouse!

So as you can see, this really is the best that I can do for blog content right now! But not to worry.  I know it will calm down soon... it has to right??

Taking the long way around

The Long Way Around"

My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes
Where their parents live

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel

I've been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
But I've always found my way somehow

By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn't kiss all the asses that they told me to

No I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

It's been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I'm getting' it back on the road now

But I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
The long
The long way around

Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found

Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

~ Dixie Chicks