BIrthday day

  Yesterday, Kristen and I headed out for a fantastic day of shopping and eating out. It seems novel to spend your 30th doing what most people do every day, but as I get older those simple moments are the most treasured.
  Grandma and Grandpa Griffith blessed my sister and I with some spending money. My mother in law, Judy, gave me just what I wished for....two skeins of sock yarn and my fantastic irreplaceable husband gave me specific instructions to spend the money he gave me on me.
  Our first stop was Starbucks. I had some writing to do on this next assignment. Its been eating away at me so I decided to give it a once over before the day started. We sipped coffee, typed, and munched. Afterwords we headed to the mall. Kristen got a pair of boots from Payless. We nosed around a few more stores and then blew money at Clair's. Hair toys aren't just for little kids! Macy's was a must for Clinique products then Old Navy for 5 dollar T-shirts.
  The local bagel place made for a good lunch stop. Kristen called the movie theatre and found a good time to see Sherlock Holmes and then we called her mom to find a hole in the wall yarn store. It was AMAZING!! When did this crazy love for lambs wool start, I don't know, but man it was heaven. Then the bank, a movie, and Target. It may sound crazy but by the time we did dinner I felt like the day had flown by. It was all so fun and relaxing. A good way to spend my first day of my 30's!
 

The final countdown

  My youngest has been on top of the Christmas  countdown this year. He has been playing Angry Birds Christmas on my I pod. It unlocks a new level every day till the 25th. Usually I have some sort of advent calender but this year has been a little different. Have any of you tried to get into the holiday spirit when your press board floors don't come clean? Its not easy. Even cups and cups of holiday themed tea cant pull my eyes from the sand stained floors. My solution is to leave and visit family. Too bad Santa doesn't do floors. *wink*
  Tomorrow my parents are coming up to do a Christmas dinner and open presents. Today I cleaned in preparation, including the car and the yard. I use to think that feeling your age was mostly mental. Ummm....Its not. After deep cleaning the car to find the funk causing my oldest to "fake vomit" every time she rides in the car, I turned to the yard. I thought perhaps my upper neighbors would appreciate the turning of my compost... a Merry Christmas no more broken eggshells type of thing. Then there were the dog holes and kids toys. By the time I was raking the pine needles out of the grass, my body was begging me to quit.
I came inside just in time to make dinner.
  This year flew by so quickly. I cant guarantee that any posting will happen during our snow filled vacation...so MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

A comforting time

Nancy's death has been the hardest on my girl. She had such a tight bond with Nancy, as a comforter and a friend and her absence rocked my girl to the very core. It seems like a lot of fuss to most people...but to little insomniacs everywhere who are afraid of every night time noise, the absence of a big brave bedfellow is rather extreme. Shoot, I still get teary over her. A few nights ago Nukka hopped on our bed and crashed out. My girl came stumbling up the stairs plagued by yet another sleepless night. I told her to join the club and she curled up against her new dog. A tiny spark of what she had lost came back to her, easing away the pain just a smidgen, as she fell almost instantly asleep.

thirty and flirty?

I know its a terrible title to the post...but really what rhymes with thirty other than Gerty and dirty?
As my birthday approaches I began to think. Well more like tug on the not-so-invisible lines above my eyebrows and under my eyes. Perhaps I need a change. I have considered dying my hair bright red. I did it once  before when my middle child was born.
 Last night I found my pair of haircutting scissors.


Got you going? Well I did cut bangs. This is what I heard after said bang cutting commenced.

Thomas- Mom I liked you better before. You look bald. (pointing) theres a bald spot right there.
Found Mr. Steel crying in the corner- I liked the old mommy better. I want the old mommy back.(more tears)
My. Girl- oh you have bangs like me!

I just had to shake my head and laugh. Hope you got a chuckle out of it too.

he's a thinker

  Thomas called my attention to the fact he could drink his juice with no thumbs. I really didn't think anything about it until he followed it up with..."well that proves it." 
  "Proves what?" I asked.
  "It proves that cats don't need thumbs to drink out of a glass, they just need to have big enough paws."
  He is a thinker that one.

school

This year is coming along nicely. The boys have a regular routine and are plugging along. Sending my girl to school has improved her reading a lot. Her handwriting is getting better also. Its a tough decision to allow God to do what he wants without my interference. I am thankful to see her make good decisions without me being a giminy cricket..chirping away in her ear. I am stunned to stand back and realize I no longer hold the hand of a little girl, but a young lady. Oh she still is a little girl in many ways, but not that cuddly little bundle of energy she use to be. Goodness, she will be NINE in February. Yeesh. Where does it all go to?!

Haiku Tuesday

Reading Frog and Toad

playing in a frosty yard

thankful for no rain

click for Kristen

But mom!

  Growing up we had to do chores like every other family out there. Usually I got the dishes because I didn't break them like Dan...(he was stuck on eternal bathroom duty) the worst days were Saturday. The day everyone should be sleeping in or watching TV or riding their horses. There we were shaken from sleep to clean AGAIN. As if every other day went enough. Was that all my parents thought about?
  Flash forward a bunch of years. I snag my three and decide to walk into town. I set the odometer on the car and measured it out the previous day. 2.3 miles one way. Not too bad. Mr. Steel has been asking for more than two weeks to trek into town on bike/foot/stroller but I wasn't about to take on a 10 mile round trip hike. NOT with three kids, a stroller, two dogs, and one bike...I'm not that crazy. Anyhoo we went into town bummed around and then headed back home. When I stepped though the door I was assaulted with the fact the whole house was a disaster. Anyone who has remodeled knows this is a constant state.
  What did I spend my Saturday doing? Cleaning. After years of being forced to clean on the weekend...okay not forced (there were no whips involved)  I now admit that it feels good to get the pee scrubbed off the floor around the toilet for a few hours.
  I think its a sad reality that I am becoming an adult. Oh yes Ive been there for years, but I still held on to some things like laying on the ground watching the ants pick there way through a forest of grass. Guess you have to give up a few things along the journey to oldness. *wink*

the write thing to do

So there I sat..after endless hours contemplating quitting my writing class because of an inability to write non-fiction...(yes this is a run on sentence)...staring at my computer screen for the umpteenth morning in a row...with nothing to show for it. Urgh. I REALLY want to succeed at this. Once again I shut my computer screen and went about my day, cooking breakfast and walking the dog.
  About a mile into my jog/walk I asked my youngest what HE would write about. Yes, I'm that desperate. It was only then that the lesson I studied more than a month ago came back to me. Telling a story about what happened in real life is still non-fiction.
  Wait, did I hear myself right? Telling a story...oooh I would still be able to use my Civil War theme.
  I whipped out my i-pod and used the microphone to narrate what I wanted.....and then realised I didn't use it right...second try and I got it. You don't know how relieved I was to have it worked out. Even if I did endure some interesting comments from Satler and Wldorf* in the stroller.



*Statler and Waldorf- the old man puppets from the muppet show