#SOL15
I am so tired tonight, so this will be a quick post and then I'm off to bed. With any luck, I'll get to sleep in till 7am tomorrow!
Work was long and tiring today. On my way to get my daughter, I got a text from my mother in law containing some pictures. My daughter was in their kitchen and she was baking cookies. I received the cutest pictures of her mixing chocolate chip cookie batter in a bowl. The pictures were adorable, and my heart melted.
What a big girl. She is growing up before our eyes. Each day I see her, I feel she is turning more and more into a little person, and no longer a baby. She is becoming more independent, she knows what she likes and doesn't like, she laughs when something is funny, and she gives the best hugs. (<--- That's pretty much my favorite thing ever right now!) She's so silly and it makes me laugh. It's days like this, when I receive something like her cookie picture, that I want to rock her in my arms and do nothing else. I want to feel those squishy hugs filled with love. I want to sit around watching Bubble Guppies or building Lego formations. I want the rest of my day, and my worries, to leave my mind. I want it to be a very long time before she no longer wants to do these things with me. <3
#SOL15
"How are you today?" I text my friend.
"Rough start to my morning," she text back.
"Why what happened?"
"Nothing major, but on my way to work a bird flew into my windshield and it just made me really sad," replied the animal lover.
I had this exact conversation with a friend this morning via text message. I felt badly because no one wants to start their morning by hitting an animal, no matter how small. I wanted to cheer her up, so I told her something that happened to me several years ago. Back then it was traumatizing, but now I can actually laugh about it. Here's my story:
Years ago when I lived with my parents, I was driving home on a windy back road. Out of the corner of my eye I see a turkey standing on the side of the road. Just standing there. I tapped my brake just in case it decided to move. He turned (yes, it was a male ;-) ) and walked into the woods behind him. I took my foot off of the brake. Suddenly, he does an about-face and darts out into the road and right in front of my car! I barely have time to even find the brake again when THUMP! I hit this turkey dead on and feathers are flying everywhere. (Seriously. I can't make this stuff up.) It hits the front of my car, bounces up onto the hood of my SUV, and then goes flying over the top of the car! I look in the rearview mirror just in time to see it hit the ground behind me.
I gasp and cannot believe what just happened. I drive a little further, but then feel obligated to go back and check on the turkey. I pull over and then head back in the direction of the turkey. I don't see it in the road, but then I notice it on the opposite side of the street. It's not moving. Ugh. Great. I'm still reeling from everything that happened, so I pick up the phone to call someone. I call my younger sister who happens to be at work. I tell her the story and wait for her reaction. These are her exact words. I'll never forget them.
"Theresa! You killed a turkey?! On EARTH DAY?!"
HAHA! I had no idea it was Earth Day, but my sister, the animal-loving-outdoor-nature-girl, knew it was Earth Day! I do feel bad I hit an innocent animal, but we ended up laughing hysterically at the way she said those words. I always think of this story as I'm driving on that road, or when Earth Day rolls around. I'm glad my anecdote was able to cheer up a friend and make her laugh. :-)
#SOL15
I'll never understand the "duck face" picture. I don't even know if I'm writing it correctly. Hmmmm... duck face. Duckface. The world may never know. Do you?
As I was leaving work today, I stopped by the main office to drop something off. I noticed two girls sitting in chairs by the door when I walked in. They looked to be in maybe 6th or 7th grade. I figured they were waiting for someone. I dropped off my item and walked back towards the door. I noticed one of the girls had taken out her cell phone. The girl and her friend got close to each other, both made "duck faces", and snapped a picture. I smiled but thought to myself, I will never understand that pose. Why pucker your lips and make such a bizarre face? Maybe it's my age. Maybe I'm a stick in the mud. I don't know. I just don't think there's anything attractive about making a face like that. (Not to mention, what is a 6th grader doing with a phone?? I got my first cell phone at 21! But that's a completely different post.)
I walk towards the parking lot and begin to head to my car. Right there, parked at the curb directly outside the building, another girl roughly about 16 or 17 was doing the same. exact. thing. She's sitting in the drivers seat with her camera phone pointed at her, making the same exact face! She had no shame in posing and shifting around to get the perfect angle, all while making the lovely "duck face." Sigh. I guess I just don't understand it. I'm sure it's a social media thing, and this is now the norm. This is the age of the "selfie." It didn't bother her that people were coming in and out of the building, walking right next to her car.
Who's to say what the next social media trend will be. I'm hoping at some point we can move way beyond the "duck face."
#SOL15
I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what to write tonight. I'm exhausted from working all day, teaching my Spin class tonight, and then I came home and completed my T25 workout for the day! Whew! I should be in bed.
So, as I sit here, I read about a really interesting Slicer's post. She makes a really thought provoking list, and I'm going to follow suit doing just that. Have a good night, everyone!
Listening: I'm listening to how quiet my house is right now. My husband is asleep, my daughter is asleep, and even the dog is asleep at my feet. Why am I not in bed yet?
Eating: I just finished a few graham crackers. Crunchy and delicious. The perfect nighttime snack. (I'm trying to be good! If I had chocolate in the house, I would've eaten that!)
Drinking: Just finished a large glass of water. Definitely dehydrated from exercising.
Wearing: My polka dot PJ pants and my Dr. Seuss "Thing" shirt. :-)
Reading: Honestly, I'm in between books right now and haven't picked up anything new. I've been focusing a lot on reading other peoples articles and posts, reading blogs, searching for writing prompts and writing contests. I love to read and can use a good suggestion on the next best horror, suspense, or mystery book!
Feeling: Nervous. I'm searching for a new car, but I don't know if I can pull it off. My car definitely needs to be upgraded, and I constantly worry about driving all over with my daughter. I have so much anxiety about having a reliable car!
Wanting: One good night of sleep. One restful, relaxing, long, uninterrupted night of sleep.
Needing: A date night (or day!) with my husband. It has been far too long, and with our busy schedules and lives, it will be nice to reconnect. As parents, we should never forget to work on our marriage as well.
Thinking: My busy week will not stop running through my head. So much going on, so much to do, and all my days are getting mixed up. Looking forward to the weekend.
Enjoying: The few minutes I get to myself before bed to put my thoughts on paper. Or really, on the computer and in this blog. I hope I inspire others to start a daily blog, whether it's on paper or on the computer. I hope I just inspire others to WRITE! It's such a freeing, soul-cleansing activity. (For me, at least.) :-)
#SOL15
I'll make this post nice and short since it's late and I'm exhausted. Tonight I took part 1 of the DASA course. For those of you not familiar with DASA, it stands for Dignity for All Students Act. It encompasses everything from bullying to any type of discrimination to cyber bullying. You get the idea.
Tonight I watched some of the most heartbreaking videos. Tonight I read some awful statistics. Of course I am bothered by bullying, but tonight I actually FELT bullying. These poor children who have to endure this on a daily basis; I can't even comprehend it. I was bullied a time or two or three when I was in school. I know it's much worse now with all the technology we have and all the social media we have such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. People can be very, very cruel.
I'm not going to lie when I say that as a parent, it gave me a little bit of anxiety. I never, ever want my daughter to be on the receiving end of bullying. I am also going to do everything in my power to make sure she is never the bully. Kids aren't perfect. I get that. Adults aren't perfect either. I think back on many instances of when I was in high school and other classmates were picked on over and over again. Flash forward to today, and some of those people are so wonderful and I'm happy to call them my friends. I wish other people had taken the time to stop their antics and put themselves in someone else's shoes. Heartbreaking. I'm rambling now because I'm really not sure what to say about the subject. It's such heavy material.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox for the night. My last words are just, be kind. Try and reach out to someone you think may need a hand today. You never know how much you might brighten a person's day just by saying hello.
#SOL15
I don't remember when daylight savings happened last year. My daughter was only 5 months old last March, so I'm pretty sure I was still up at all hours of the night and had no idea what time it was anyway. This year, well, that's a different story. I have been dreading this time change. Not only are we losing an hour, but I'm also losing an hour of free time because...you guessed it...my daughter is staying up just a little later. But that can all be remedied.
Tonight we kept her up a little later so her bedtime would be the "same." I kept thinking of all the things I wanted to get done: work out, shower, check emails, write. I knew she wouldn't go to sleep yet, so we decided to play instead. I'd get to everything else eventually.
On my tablet I have a silly game called My Talking Tom. There's no object to this game. You take care of a talking cat by dressing him, making sure he's fed, bathed, has enough sleep, etc. It also picks up your voice and mimics everything you say but uses a silly voice. I renamed the cat Cooper. My daughter loves Cooper. She asks to see him every day. She feeds him, gives him a bath, and pets him so he purrs. Tonight I let her check on Cooper and put him to bed. While she was petting him, she accidentally tapped the screen and it made a slapping sound. Cooper jumped and then said, "No no no" as he wagged his finger. I have never heard my daughter laugh so hard. I tried to recreate the sound, and it worked. Again, she was hysterically laughing. Cooper mimicked her sweet laugh.
I had so much fun with her at that moment. (We always have fun, but you know what I mean.) I'm almost glad for daylight savings time because it allowed us to have that extra hour with each other. If the time hadn't changed and she had her normal bedtime, we may not have had those amazing laughs together. It was so cute. I can still hear her adorable laugh even now that she's fast asleep. I hope she asks to see Cooper again tomorrow morning.
#SOL15
"Some. Some."
This is what my daughter says to my husband and I when she wants "some" of our food. It doesn't matter if she's never eaten this type of food or not, she just wants "some."
It started one day while I was eating a peanut butter sandwich. She came over and stuck her little finger in between the bread and right into the peanut butter. After licking her fingers, she decided she wanted more, and she ate half my lunch. Then it was a bowl of Kix with lowfat milk. She stood at my knees as I ate a bite, and then she'd hold her mouth opening waiting for her bite. I could go on and on. She's willing to try it all. This just means that I usually end up splitting half of whatever I have with her. Today she ate all of the ham out of a protein snack I had been eating. I didn't mind because I had eaten two pieces, so I let her eat the rest. That's just what moms do, right?
It must be. I know this because my mother did the same exact thing for us. And there were 4 of us. Every time she made herself something to eat, we all wanted it. Between the 3 or 4 of us, she had nothing left when we were done. I always remember her taking us out to dinner when we were younger, and she always ordered this seafood salad pita. As soon as the plate hit the table we always asked her if we could have some, or we would reach over with our forks and snag a piece. There was barely anything left for her by the time we were done "tasting."
I don't remember my mom ever telling us to stop or even denying us a taste. She just let us do it. Why? I'm not sure. Because she's our mom? Maybe. Probably for the same reason I let my daughter always eat my food. It's what she wants and it makes her happy. I don't even mind. (And anyone who knows me knows I looooove my food and I'm very protective of my meals.) :-) Giving up food seems like something so trivial in the life of a parent, and it probably is. To me, it just proves that it doesn't matter what it is or what I have to do, I'll do anything for my little girl. I don't even think about it. I just do it as if I'm on autopilot. I'm thinking this is exactly what my mother went through.
