I'll Have Another, Please

Last night with dinner, I was drinking Sangria.

Generally, when we're having dinner at home, I drink milk. Until recently, I would only get Sangria when we're out at Italian places. Lately though, I've been enjoying it more and more so I've started making it at home. I'll typically have it late at night when Andy's drinking his Scotch. For some reason, last night I decided to have some with dinner.

Good thing...

Matt was at youth group; Andy, John and I were sitting at the table eating pasta while the buzz of Fox News filled the background. The conversation was fairly normal. "How was your day?" "Do you have a lot of homework" "Did your (insert sore body part here) hurt too badly at practice?" "Funny thing happened at work today..." All typical stuff.

About mid-way through his third piece of garlic bread, John asked (very nonchalantly), "Do we have any plans for Saturday?"

I reply, "We have an Aztec game. Why? What's up?"

In the split second that it took for him to answer, several possible activities ran through my head. I wondered which he was going to throw at us. Would it be an evening of video games and poker at his quarterback's house with his fellow offensive linemen? Perhaps some football with the guys at his center's house? Maybe a trip to the gym to get in some extra lifting? All of these have happened before and were quite possible. However, none are correct. Out of his mouth came...

"I'd like to go to the school dance."

Gulp.

It was bound to happen sometime. He's a sophomore. He's got a zillion friends and he's a popular guy on the football team. He texts people all the time. There's a girl named Brittany that he's been talking to a lot. Eventually he was going to want to go to a dance, I just didn't think it would be this Saturday night.

After a talk about some ground rules, all of which will be reiterated multiple times in the next 72 hours, we agreed to let him go. He said thanks, cleared his dishes and headed upstairs to start his homework.

I went to the kitchen and poured myself a second, very large glass of sangria.

#2,149

If you're lucky enough to know my dad, you know what an amazing man he is. I'm not kidding; if you don't know him, ask someone who does. I don't think there's anyone on the planet who doesn't like my dad. He's Godly, loving, kind, talented, patient, forgiving, smart, creative, funny, generous...the list could literally go on and on.

There are many, many reasons why I adore him and today I thought I'd share one of them with you. Reason #2,149 is because of conversations like this:

(The following took place this past Saturday morning...)



Dad: "I hear that you want me to write a few things down on a Christmas list."

Me: "Yep."

Dad: "You planning on starting your shopping soon?"

Me: "Yeah, I think Mom and I are going to try to get out next weekend. It'd be nice if everyone could get their lists to me by then."

Dad: "Well, why don't I make it easy for you? Just tell me what you want to get me and I'll put it on my list."



I love you, Dad.

...Because A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart...

Today didn't start out so great. It was a hectic morning and there were just a couple of little things that were bugging me.

The speeding ticket (while driving carpool) didn't help. Nor does thinking about the dental work that I will receive in a couple of hours.

Lately though, when things have been looking down, I've been trying to focus more on being thankful. It's hard to have a pity party and be thankful at the same time. I have my moments, don't get me wrong. Some of you were with me at "that moment" when you got the text about the speeding ticket. But in general, I'm trying to follow Monty Python's example and look on the bright side of life.

With that in mind, there are two things that I'm thankful for this morning.

First, the return of my good friend, The Red Cup. It's hard to be sad when sipping a vanilla latte from a Red Cup.

Second, I'm thankful for my friend, Andreya, and for the unexpected blessing of the Starbucks gift card that allowed my first Red Cup of the season to be free! There was also a super sweet note with the gift card that made my tears of panic (dang ticket) turn to tears of happiness. Thank you, Andreya! You're such a blessing!

Out With the Bad Air, In With the Good

No, I'm not talking about my asthma; I'm referring to change.

I'm not talking about good change, either. You know, changes like getting a new haircut or taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up Thanksgiving decor (yay for this afternoon!). I'm speaking of the hard, life changes.

At any given time, I have at least seven things that I should change. Generally, it's the usual suspects: I need to lose (a ton of) weight, I should manage my time better, I could be a better wife/mom/friend, I should turn off the TV more often and read more books. You get the picture.

The problem with change is that it seems to be ridiculously hard. I always intend to lose weight; I start a diet almost every Monday. It usually ends by Tuesday. Frequently I make elaborate "to-do" lists only to find that it's not humanly possible to accomplish everything. I break out a book to read, but find that I get sleepy when I start to read so I turn on the TV instead. I intend to be patient and loving with my kids and then one of them does something so teenager-ish that I want to throw utensils at them! (This actually almost happened; a few months ago JC did something and I literally almost threw my fork at him.)

In short, I continually fail. I'll be faced with a situation and Little (White) Michelle on my left shoulder says, "Think of how much more accomplished you'll feel. You'll have victory! You can do it!" But then Little (Red) Michelle on my right shoulder quickly replies, "Eh, life is short. Go ahead, eat cheesecake for breakfast!"

And...this is where the blog breaks down.

I've stated my topic. I feel like I've communicated some of the changes that I'd like to make. I've listed a few specific things that thwart my attempts. I shared the conversation that takes place between the Little Michelles. Logically, we've arrived at the part where I dazzle you with some great epiphany that I've had. Some gems of wisdom. What I've done to overcome some bad habits and how I've risen above them.

Nope. I've got nothing.

Today is just another, ordinary Monday. So far I've done okay. I haven't touched the Halloween candy (yet). I was nice to all of my people as they left the house this morning. I picked up some things and started laundry before I sat down to write. So far, so good. But it's early; the candy corn will probably start calling to me around 11ish.

While I would love for that magical epiphany to occur, I fear that I'm going to keep taking it one day at a time and struggle through it. Charles Swindoll wrote a book called Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. That's what it feels like. Although many days it feels like it's actually three steps back and I'm just breaking even. Or it's four steps, and I'm losing ground.

Oh well. I'll keep trying.

It's In The Genes

Before I continue with my observation for the day, I just want you to know that I'm fully aware of the fact that I fell off of the blog wagon this past weekend. I had a sick kid, I didn't feel so hot myself, I was focusing on Christmas cards, etc. It just didn't get done. And you know what? The world will go on! (For those of you that know me well, you know how big of a deal it is for me to say that!)

And now, today's thought....

There are a great many things that I've passed on to my kids: my love for home-made mashed potatoes, my anal retentive need for everything to be tidy (well, only one kid got that), the general shape of my nose, my competitive nature, the list goes on and on. Tonight, I discovered one more thing that at least one of my kids picked up.

We stopped by the library after hours to return a book for Andy and I asked Matt to hop out and put it in the book drop. What he did next totally made me giggle. He ran over there, placed the book in, closed the door to activate the drop, then opened it again and peeked in just to make sure that it was empty.

That's not something I've ever told him to do. All I can think of is that he's seen me do that a million times with mail boxes so it must have made sense to him to do it at the library.

My kid makes me smile. :-)

One Step At A Time

Today I did something very cool.

I bought jeans that are a size smaller. :-)

I've been wearing my heavy jeans; I'm not yet able to fit into my skinny jeans. However, the heavy jeans started getting a little too baggy so I had to go by some one size smaller.

I was hoping to be back into the skinny jeans for my trip to Tennessee next week. It really doesn't look like I'm going to make it. Oh well, baby steps, right? I'm down one size.

Hooray!

"Always two there are, a Master and an Apprentice."

Sorry. I couldn't pass up the obvious Star Wars quote. Priorities, you know.

Anyhow, here's my thought for the day:

Who is having more fun these days? The teacher or the student?