A Musing Mother 6

I lived in a neighborhood that I knew I loved before I moved in. It was just a feeling I had and was ready to make the necessary sacrifices to live there. We already had friends nearby but that's not what drew us. We'd been looking for months and nothing felt just right. It was April 19, 1995 and I had just come home from the hospital with a brand new bundle of joy in my arms when Scott informed me he'd found our home. I reluctantly relinquished the baby and drove two miles north, walked into the entry and burst into tears. I was home. And my milk had come in. I was engorged and in pain. When my oldest baby was three years old, another mother in the neighborhood approached me and asked if I wanted to join the "Joy School" group. Uh, oookaaay? What's Joy School? It's a cooperative pre-school that mothers take turns teaching. The curriculum is easy and predictably scheduled for 3 year olds. We, the mothers, also had to meet once a month to make plans, tweaks...

Whoever coined the phrase, "There is no such thing as a stupid question" was smoking something. Here are my two most irritating: 1. What are you reading? 2. What are you doing? Now I'll put them in context: 1. I am reading a book or my Kindle. I am trying to stay in the story which means that I need to mentally block out what is happening around me. What are you reading? Clearly, I am no longer reading because my concentration is blown and I am answering the question. Now I am reading nothing. 2. I am on the computer when I am asked, "What are you doing?" Seriously? You want to know what I am doing? This one irritates me because I am not merely paying my bills on Bill Pay. While my pages load I am also: Checking my email Responding to an email Checking the children's grades Now emailing a teacher Checking ratings on a book Forgetting my bank password so I look it up in my documents Check my work email Register for a conference Writing a blog post. Stalk my f...

Last night I had parent night at work. This is my shining moment where I stand up in front of all the parents that show up (usually under a handful but this year 31) and their students and give them a scintillating lecture of credits. It was awesome because the subject matter is so intriguing. My turn over, I sat down and continued reading while someone else took a turn. Then we wrapped it up and herded them to the food. I heard someone call my name and a guy that looked familiar approached me. It was Matt, high school all-American in every sport, crushed on him BAD all through high school even though I was a year older than him, talked endlessly with my friends about his blue, blue eyes. He was standing in front of me, 28 years later. He still looked hunkadelicious, even without his Greg Brady perm. I caught up with him again in the cafeteria where we talked a little more and tried to tie our social lives together with "have you heard what ever happened to..." but it fell fl...

At school the children have been discussing community helpers. What that means is somewhat vague but the basic gist is that today they were to dress up as their favorite civil servant/community helper. Guess whose mother was at Lowe's last night looking for costume ideas? Guess whose mother, a geometrically and spatially challenged woman, worked until after 7:00 last night, went to Lowe's, and then had to challenge her brain with making a couple of octagons then cutting electrical tape into small squares and rectangles to form the words "STOP"? Guess whose mom super glued her fingertips together? Guess whose mom loves this little crossing guard?

Did you have a good time playing with Caleb today? Yeah. What did you play? Actually, we played with Caleb's sister, too. It's a lovely way to respect her. It is a lovely way to respect her. Good job, bud.

Look at me, look at me, look at me now! You could do what I do if you only knew how. I study the scriptures one hour each day, I bake, I upholster, I scrub and I pray. I always keep all the commandments completely. I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly. I help in their classrooms, I sew all they wear, I drive them to practice, I cut all their hair. I go to the temple at least once a week; I change the car's tires and fix the sink's leak. I'm taking a class on the teachings of Paul, But that is not all, oh no, that is not all! I play the piano and work on my talents; My life is a wonder of fullness and balance. I read to my children, I help all my neighbors, I bless my community, too, with my labors. Our family home evenings are always delightful; The lessons I give are both fun and insightful. I do genealogy faithfully, too It's easy to do all the things that I do. I have a home business to help make some money; I always look beautifully groomed for my honey. My ...

This week I am taking part in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop. The prompts are: 1.) Locked out. 2.) Write about a time you wanted to disappear. 3.) An inappropriate time to laugh. 4.) A time you hurt a friends feelings. 5.) Advice to new mothers. This is a repost. I wrote this in August. If you've already read it, go ahead and read it again. Tell me it's awe inspiring. If you want to insult me, go ahead but make sure I don't know where you live. I will egg your house. Because I'm petty that way. ______________________________________________ "Enjoy them while they're young." That one sentence and snippet of advice I heard hundreds of times over the years set my teeth on edge. I wondered if the bestower of this nugget of knowledge understood how condescending she sounded. Or if she might be suffering from selective memory loss. Worst of all, the undertone was a message of doom. You think you have it hard now? Ha! Just wait.  It was also implied that I ...

I have a quandary about fashion and function. I'm starting to understand why women wear clothes from their era instead of keeping more up to date clothing. It's not the fit. I've already proved that 110 lbs. at age 18 and 40 are both a size 6 for me. But 18 doesn't have a muffin top. So my grandmother always bought her clothes at a store called Pikettes. It basically specialized in old lady clothes. That would be the double knit polyester colored pants with a seam down the front and a button-down, long-sleeve, polyester, flowered top that coordinated with said double knit pants. I'd not be caught dead in those clothes except for two occasions. 1) To work at McDonald's, although the shirt was the same color as the pants so not comfortable and 2) To please my grandmother. When my grandmother came to visit one time, she decided to gift me a pair of those polyester pants in pink. She insisted I try them on and I certainly was well-mannered enough to not disappoint a...

It's not happy time. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer nearly 9 years ago and went through aggressive chemotherapy and mastectomy. She beat cancer. Still, there's always the collective intake of breath every time she has a health issue, wondering if it has returned. It has returned. Yesterday she had surgery to fuse discs in her spine and to add a plate. She was in the operating room for over 3 hours and it went well. A tumor is around the spine (not in the bone). Today, in fact right now she is in surgery again and having the tissue removed. Cancer sucks. Still, I have societal expectations to meet. No time to be upset and throw a pity party. I hate cancer. I love my mom. But I did what is expected of me. Got up, showered and dressed, took kids to school - okay, I'm totally lying about taking kids to school. Scott did because I'm perpetually late - drove to work. I listen to news radio on the way so I can get the news somehow. Naturally, September 11th...

Since posting the picture of my amazing wedding dress, I have been asked over and over about it. Maybe people are simply stunned that I ever wore anything besides khakis and a t-shirt. Still, I have to agree. The dress was stunning. Frankly, the story to the dress is nothing short of ironic. So sit back, relax and grab a Diet Coke. The dress was first my little sister's. She married the year before I did and did all the running around, comparison shopping and kept copious notes. It was awesome. She and I are of the same mind when it came to wedding dresses. Neither of us wanted to buy one but wanted the. Perfect. Dress. She found the Perfect Dress. Within the year I was engaged. I started looking for a wedding gown. I remembered my sister's wedding gown but started closer to home. There was really nothing like that one so I broke down and begged her to help me track that dress down. The dress belonged to a home business in a very small town in northern Utah. The home itself was...

Being the upstanding Mormon woman that I am, I do not swear. I do, however, have bad manners. Bad manners have been defined for me by a former bishop. Those are farm words. If you need a definition of swearing, email me. But I have bad manners on very rare occasions. Daily. Fortunately, my children have been educated on bad manners and swearing. They don't say either although one of my children must have watched too much television for awhile because he would suddenly exclaim, "Oh my G**!" That's swearing I don't do. Television or daycare. I've accused the daycare ladies when he let out a bout of bad manners, too. They had the decency to look guilty then would admit letting out a "d" word two weeks ago. I would give them a stern warning and giggle inside. My oldest daughter lives and breathes band. She is not alone. Most band people take more art credit than is required and have to take core classes someplace else. That someplace else happens to be a...

So I am enamored by this baby, it's true. But my sister recorded this on her ipod and I found I couldn't stop laughing at his expressions. Enjoy. P.S. There is nothing in his mouth.

Sixteen years, three months later We are finished with DAYCARE! (Missing from picture is a certain 16 year old who later came home GLOWING and floating just a little bit. Her "not boyfriend" asked her to homecoming) Back to my original thought - I now have days in a row when I don't worry about my children for six solid hours, nobody calls my cell phone to give me a play by play on a Zoodles game or tell me they are bored. Above all, I don't have to think about picking someone up from daycare or kindergarten in the middle of the day. I know. You be jealous.