Unhistoric Acts

October random

• Parker's last football practice was last night. His end-of-season party is tomorrow. Instead of trophies we are giving the boys dog tags with their names, positions, and jersey numbers on them -- that was Sterling's very bright idea. Also need to pick up the cake. And the coach's gift. And a giant sticky note that reads 'DON'T VOLUNTEER TO BE TEAM MOM.'
• I have the Christmas light guy scheduled, as in ON THE CALENDAR. THE CHRISTMAS LIGHT GUY! I LOVE THAT GUY!
• Friday the high is 69 and the low is 46. I've already laid out my sweater. I might even pick another sweater and change halfway through the day. Also boots. Possibly ear muffs.
• Just got a new swimsuit in the mail last week. Yesterday, the UPS man brought snow boots.
• Seasonally, I'm very confused.
• Also, emotionally and intellectually -- pretty confused.
• On Wednesday it will be exactly one month since sugar passed my lips. And there, folks, is a perfectly valid reason for all of this confusion I'm experiencing.
• I would give my firstborn for a piece of cheesecake.
• Just kidding Jordan! Geez. JUST. A. JOKE.
• I taught about the 10 plagues of Egypt in seminary today. I tried to represent each of the plagues with something plague-ish. Okay, so I made it totally Halloween-y. But it takes a lot to keep those folks awake at 6 AM.
• Going to dinner tonight with my neighbors. I'm already sleepy and it's 5:42. Diet Coke is my friend.

homecoming '11

After some intense preparations...homecoming was this weekend.

For us Mormon gals, finding a modest homecoming dress is so, so difficult. As in finding a needle in a haystack difficult. As in trying to control the fashion industry WITH OUR MIND. It's incredibly frustrating to say the least. And for those of us who are shopping challenged? Ugh. With a capital UGH.

This year Jordan and her pals scouted the surrounding malls. She reported exceedingly slim pickings, and we began making peace with the fact that the girls might wear their dresses from last year.

But in a last minute rally, we found dresses on Shabby Apple. Phew.

Jordan et al:

And Madison (with extremely straight hair!):

Jordan's group started with pictures at 3:00. We ushered the last teenager out of our house around 1:09 AM. I cried when my alarm went off for church this morning.

THE END (more details to come).

it's a blustery day (finally)

We Houstonians are pretty giddy what with the 68 degree weather and all. When I was driving to my hair appointment leaves were swirling through the air (very reminiscent of Winnie the Pooh). And to top it off...it smells great out there. So, so Fall-ish. Autumnal even.

I set off to my hair appointment armed with three hairstyles I'd saved on Pinterest. My hair guy looks as the pictures and says, "These are all pictures of straight hair, and your hair is curly."

I'm aware.

And yet...he blows it out and straighten it every time. As do I each and every morning. Ugh. Definitely not on the same page today.

Still...he always gives a good cut. Even if it is the SAME.

I want him to give me some edge. Some funk. But instead I usually get soccer mom. Maybe he just can't fight nature, or my age, or the fact that I don't outwardly portray a lot of funk and edge. But deep inside, I'm edgy and funky to the extreme. You know that. Right?

Also, he can't fight my 27 cowlicks.

And that's all. Wind. Cool air. Hair.

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

nerd day

The week of homecoming (for some reason) means that each day is a dress-up day. My kids LOVE this, particularly nerd day. Jordan is sporting Parker's pokemon shirt, suspenders, and her very own UIL gold medal. I'd have to say that even though we try to conform to basic aesthetic standards of dress and grooming, the members of my little family are nerds at heart. We heart nerd-dom.

For myself, I got my nerd on at A&M today. I met one of the professors on my committee for "coffee," which for me means a big ole' Diet Coke. This particular professor is a person I admire greatly, AND I love to hear her take on theoretical issues, so I knew talking to her about my dissertation would be a shot of creative and academic energy...and it was. I want to be just like her when I grown up. (I suspect she's maybe five years older than me.) Being a late bloomer can be tough.

In actuality my entire committe is filled with women I admire and who make me want to work harder and succeed in this profession. I feel both lucky and grateful to have such great intellects "on my side," as it were. Talking with them does tend to soothe my troubled soul in terms of WILL I BE ABLE TO FINISH THIS PROJECT? and if so WILL I BE ABLE TO GET A JOB? I use all caps because that's how they sound in my head. I realized today I've been working towards this end since Jordan was in 4th grade. Ummmm...she's graduating this year. Of course, I write all of this here on my blog so that next week, when I'm biting my fingernails down to the quick in anguish...I can reread this and remember "the good times."

Have I told you I'm working on giving up food as my main method of self-soothing?

It's a total bummer.

the day is starting off right...

Today is already a great day. A serious malady in our home has been eradicated -- an annoyance so mighty that every member of the family had complained at GREAT length (including me).

We had a leaky faucet.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

No matter what we did, how we turned it, what we placed under it we could still hear the drip, drip, drip.

I nearly lost my mind.

I could tell you a long and particularly winding story about why our pretty decent 6 year old Moen faucet had to be replaced, but you would be bored and might turn to Peanut M&Ms for solace. Suffice it to say, I ordered this bad boy faucet on the Internet and it arrived yesterday. My man installed it this morning. The silence in the house at this very moment is glorious and undisturbed and, strangely, reminding me of Peanut M&Ms.

Other good news? Madison tells me Tuesday night that her front tooth is hurting. Really bad. Knowing my children's propensity towards ye olde cavity, I called the dentist the next morning. (He loves to hear from me. Cha Ching!) Seriously, I was imagining bad stuff happening right there at the front of her mouth -- decay dancing among those perfectly straightened teeth. Went to the dentist this morning...nothing wrong. X-ray looks perfect. He thinks she may have hit the tooth and irritated the pulp.

Pulp...it's the bane of my existence.

Two good things so far -- new faucet, no cavity. This day is really shaping up.

High school football tonight. Pee wee football in the morn. Yeehaw!

spa night

Last night was one of those marvelously rare nights when we had a moment to catch our breath. The big girls were at piano, and Sterling was at a meeting, but Parker, Becca and I were home...homework finished (well, sorta) and the kiddos had the bright idea to play in the spa. A small vacay on a Tuesday evening -- that's what I'm all about.

Parker inherited my affliction, one I like to call "always-making-weird-faces-in-pictures." That thing he's doing with his mouth? Does it all of the time. That's the kind of thing only a momma knows.

While Becca typically doesn't suffer from my affliction...she does seem to be making the Ernie face here. I'm particularly well known for my Ernie face. He's loveable. Right?

And then...after the relaxation of spa night...I came into read about what Mr. Jeffress has to say about Mormons. Whether we qualify for Mr. Jeffress's definition of Christianity or not has little to do with anything. In truth, Jesus Christ stands at the head of our church. As Mormons, we firmly believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer, and that having faith in Jesus Christ means following him throughout our lives. You can read more about our Christianity here. 

And that's how I got my dander up...just a bit.

 

 

I get by with a little help from my friends

Pictured above: Halloween on the mantle. I'm going light on deco this year, but couldn't let the season pass without a nod to my favorite ever holiday.

This morning, when I woke up for the 439th time (cuz insomnia is apparently my new bestie), I felt bad. As in sick. My head ached. I felt a bit shivery. And I felt a general malaise that screamed, "STAY IN BED." But I really couldn't because Becca was speaking in church today. I told Sterling that I would go to the first hour, but then he would need to bring me home after that. But I managed to muddle through all three hours.

Of course today would be the day that I signed up to feed the missionaries. I totally forgot until one of them stopped me in the hall. Ummmmm...."Yes, of course, see you at 5." Then I had to perk up and start rearranging dinner in my mind. What was going to be a VERY CASUAL affair (like maybe cereal) needed to be beefed up in a big way.

Here's the good part: When we got home from church everyone congregated in the kitchen and pitched in. Jordan put together Mediterranean Chicken in the crockpot, I started some homemade rolls, Maddie and Parker set the table, Becca baked a cake, and Sterling kept the dishes going. This meant I went from near sobbing (cuz I felt sick, remember?) to cheery gratefulness. (Well, maybe light on the cheery -- but definitely grateful). And then...right before the missionaries arrived I spied Parker tidying the living room...folding a quilt and laying it over the back of the couch. And I thought, "These people I love are good people."

And then I didn't feel near so bad that I couldn't have the chocolate cake.

How about that? Love from action rather than food....that's an Oprah discussion for sure.

Happy Sunday to you out there. It's dark and stormy here. Tons of rain. Maybe the drought is ending...

the husband's birthday

My incredibly kind, patient, (and handsome) husband had a birthday yesterday. He's not real big on birthdays (although he did enjoy not doing the dishes). And he's not real big on presents for himself. So the best I can do for him is try to show him how special he is to our family. Mostly this happens through food (possibly an unhealthy practice). But also, the kids and I try to be thoughtful of the little things that make him happy.

First off, Sunday night I asked what he wanted to do for his birthday dinner. I was crossing my fingers he would name off his favorite restaurant. And guess what? His favorite "restaurant" is right in our own house...which makes me head chef. He wanted brisket, PW's twice baked potatoes, asparagus, and homemade cheesecake. No probs. (In truth...it was pretty hairy to pull it off on a weeknight.)

I was wracking my brain for some presents. A book, some clothes, and definitely candy. My hubs LOVES candy. Candy I can do.

I gathered up six of his favorite candies and funneled them into six jars. The jars came from here.

Then I plopped the jars into this handy-dandy carrier, tied a bow on top, and put them at his place at the table. My kind of craftin'.

And what says 'you are special' more than a candy six pack?

Okay...alot of things.

But yesterday, the candy six pack went over great guns.

Happy Birthday honey!

 

conference weekend

It was a full weekend around these parts. Saturday meant football. First up? Parker's game at 11.

Bad news? They lost 15-19. But ... the weather was beautiful, and Sterling worked the chains. I asked Parker if he was so proud to see his dad on the chains. His response, "No. It's a normal thing."

Oh. Okay. Moving on.

Saturday night, while Sterling was at the priesthood session, the girls and Parker and I went to the high school football game. We killed 'em. That was nice. But I also abstained from the nachos (what we like to call "cheese pudding.") That part wasn't fun at all.

Sunday morning we all slept it. It was nothing short of glorious. Sterling and I made breakfast tacos for the kids at 10:15. Incredible...I'm telling you. Miraculous.

The pic above? Parker sometime during the General Conference. The kids drag quilts and bean bags and all manner of comfort into the living room, and we set up camp. Back in the olden days, we all had to put on our Sunday best and drive to the nearest chapel to watch conference on satellite. Now, we can watch in our pjs. This is mostly great, but can lend itself to sleepiness and inattentiveness.

Sleepiness and inattentiveness are the reasons I whisper and shush and nudge through both Sunday sessions. I think we all did very well today. We listened, took notes, and tried our very best not to comment on the hairstyles of the choir...except for when we really, really liked them.

Personally, I tried my very best to listen for some advice on how to make myself a better person. I mean, I know the person I NEED to be, but most of the time I'm completely bewildered as how to get from point A (my whiny butt natural self) to a better me (the totally capable, kind, compassionate self). And by that I mean, I know WHAT to do, but I can't actually make myself do those things. Ugh. 

One thing I'm definitely going to do is get back to reading The Book of Mormon everyday. Since I'm currently teaching the Old Testament, I've been centering my personal study around Old Testatment readings. But really, I need to do both.

Also, less Waltons and more work for my family. That's a tough one, but I'm sure John Boy will understand.

Looking forward to Monday!