Happy Father's Day.

I once wrote a short essay on why my Dad was my Superman (and no, it was not because he wore geeky glasses, lol!) If there is one thing I could pinpoint - it was this: My Dad has the greatest patience in the world. He would literally sit for hours listening to me explain my views on the world (when I was oh-so-wise and only 15 yrs old) and not ever say a word. Who do you know that could listen to a pompous, naive, self-centered teenager for hours on end without ever uttering a word?

No one is perfect, but you have been the Dad I have always needed you to be. I love you Dad!

Check out my suh-weet ride......

Lest I forget humility……

I had the opportunity to escort my 89 year old grandmother to her podiatry appointment today. I naively thought it would be just like any other drs appt – sit in the lobby and wait until Grandma is done and then take her back home. I actually got to go back to see the doctor with her. Geduldig is his name (yes, I am daring you to repeat that just two times!) I never thought I was a foot person. Apparently I am. And they make me want to hurl. I had to keep telling myself to look away. Everyone in that waiting room was wearing sandals (except my poor dear, sweet Grandma – bless her heart) and it was like an ugly convention or something! I mean, I am sorry, but I am pretty sure you too, would be feeling the exact same way if you were in my shoes (which ironically enough were close-toed!) Anyway, I sat there with my Grandma while the Dr did his thing (trying to look away and pretend the doctor wasn’t actually removing dead skin from calluses) wondering who on earth wants to become a podiatrist? I mean, really? At one point the dr glanced down at my shoes and I was suddenly very self-consciously grateful that I was wearing “full-coverage” shoes.

After the podiatrist we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items. That was in itself a new eye-opening experience for me! Just when I was beginning to feel wise with age, life throws a new one at me! My grandmother got into her little scooter and started driving around the store (I was a little envious, I am lazy enough to wish I could ride one of those around!) I felt very conspicuous! It really wasn’t that bad and I was just settling into the whole routine (I followed behind lest I get run over, lol!) I realized a new dilemma as the “checkout/bagger” guy placed my grandmothers bagged groceries back into the basket at the front of her scooter. Was she going to drive it out to the car? How would we get it back? I told her I could carry the bags, but she said no, she’d just drive them out to the car. Upon reflection, I am extremely grateful for her handicap tag, because it made the distance that less far, and meant less maneuvering through traffic. Anyway, Grandma told me I could return the scooter for her. WOW! What a blessing. In a matter of fifteen feet and two of the longest minutes of my life, I experienced fear, regret, humiliation, disbelief, awkwardness and I even giggled a little. I have never received so many angry, strange, confused, friendly, awkward-moment looks in all my life! I had to cross the street going nearly 1 whole mile an hour (I think that was how fast it was) all while a car (impatiently) waited for me to cross. (Seriously, the driver totally revved the engine as it swerved around me!) The lady who worked there (who was returning a basket) gave me the dirtiest look, and I guiltily apologized profusely to the several very kind ladies I nearly ran over getting back into the store. Then some man, who was probably close to my age, had a rather awkward look on his face – he was either constipated or extremely confused by the image of a seemingly healthy 20-something-ish woman riding a scooter meant for either extremely large or extremely old people! I spent most of my time “driving”, wishing I had a big sign saying that I was returning this scooter for my handicapped 89 year old grandmother who was waiting for me in the car. AND ALL THIS TOOK PLACE IN ABOUT TWO MINUTES. It will haunt me for the rest of my life!



p.s. This might very well top Emily’s story about the policeman who asked her where the parents of her children were, hahahahaha!

We got SCHOOLED!

When Brent and I bought a home, we knew nothing. We are willing to admit to that now. We just thought it would be fun to play grown-ups and buy a house. We moved in. We had a beautiful lawn with beautiful landscaping. But we didn't have enough furniture to fill the house. We didn't have any children to fill the house with either. We also had ugly blue carpet. And leftover cat smell. We took care of the carpet and cat smell (except for one lone bathroom that has a police "do not cross" tape criss-crossing the door.) We bought a lawn mower. Then we went on vacation for two weeks (in July.) Yes, we were idiots. We came home to a brown lawn, dead flowers and ugly weeds. So we got pregnant. And our lawn stayed brown, the flowers all but disappeared and the weeds got bigger and badder. Then we tore out that hideous black plastic trim that was lining the landscaping.............because it was hideous, and it was starting to show more and more (imagine that.) Then it rained, and rained and rained. There was a nice river flowing in our front yard by the end of that summer. Oops. We got a free trimmer/edger from a neighbor (I wonder if they were trying to tell us something?) I went to the Grass Pad for grass seed - they had FREE flyers just sitting around with FREE extremely valuable information on how to take care of your lawn (I think it was called the idiots guide............) I couldn't believe they were just handing out this AMAZING information for FREE! So we bought a spreader. And fertilizer. And all that other stuff. We got smarter. We watched the Daggs - if they did it - we did it. I sincerely apologize to all of our neighbors for our lawn those first 5 years. It did nothing for property values, I assure you.

So I checked out a book on landscaping and learned all about lawns and landscaping. And guess what? The landscaping isn't just there to look pretty! It has a real valuable purpose - one that if neglected will cost lots of money to fix. So Brent built me a retaining wall. We ripped out all the old plants and replaced them. We had a dirt lawn for awhile, until the grass started to grow in. Nearly 6 years later, our front lawn is back up to par. Finally. Brent works very hard to maintain his lawn and landscaping (I do the weeding.) He came in a few weeks ago and told me he was proud of his lawn - he thinks it looks very nice. While I am no big fan of pride - I think Brent deserves this one - it was a long hard process to bring our lawn and landscaping back to life - and we learned a lot! So I thought to myself, "I am so proud of Brent, he deserves special recognition - I know! I'll blog about it!" So I thought I would wait until right after a good rain (for peak coloring) and take a picture to add to the post. But then it also needed to be right after he mowed and trimmed, so that the grass would have that great pattern (peak texture.) I kept procrastinating. So to teach us one more lesson, some lovely fluffy and cuddly cute rabbit decided to burrow a nice large nest right in the middle of our front lawn. So if anyone finds a very dead, lovely fluffy and cuddly cute rabbit, we named it Dee. For defecation. Because that is essentially what he did to my husband's beautiful front lawn. So now that Brent and I have learned so much, spent so much time and money, COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL US HOW TO GET RID OF THOSE RABBITS??

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I remember being so disappointed when Blake turned out to be a boy. I really wanted a girl and I wanted to name her Bridget Claire. I remember being slightly disappointed when Maxwell turned out to be a boy. I would've named her Sophia Zoe. I remember being extremely relieved and grateful to a wonderful and just God for making Jack a boy. I had no girl name picked out - and in fact had a nightmare that I had a baby girl and we called her baby because I couldn't come up with a name!

I was reminded this morning again of why I lucked out with the whole "only boys" thing. Let's say one of them decides to cut his hair (so sorry, Nellie!) No problemo! They will just get a buzz cut! Gets gum (I never give them gum) stuck in their hair? No problemo! Buzz cut.

Anyone remember when my sister Anna cut her own hair - I think we made fun of her for at least the first year - it totally looked like a mullet, lol! I wish I had a picture of it!