Gut Check

My gut usually doesn't let me down.  I need to learn to trust it - it tells me when I need to make a #2, when I'm going to be sick, when I'm full, when I'm empty, and when something just doesn't feel quite right. Yesterday and today were no exception...the barometer was right on.  I should go do something that takes wicked accurate gut-checks. JS.

~C.

True or Fate

On the radio the other day a man wrote in telling about his plans to play with some money that he and his wife had saved over the past four years. The money was their in vitro fund.  You see, the couple had not been able to conceive on their own and this was the next step.  The thing about the savings is that it was only about half of what they needed for the first try. Bummer, right?  Well the husband's idea was to go to Vegas and put all their money on Red - the wife's favorite color.  His thought - if it hits, we are meant to have a child.  If it misses, it is not meant to be. Oh and I should mention that the wife was not aware of this plans.

Fate: 1. something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot. 2. the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time. 3. that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny. 4. a prophetic declaration of what must be. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this thing called fate.  "Things happen for a reason" people say.  "It's in God's hands" others like to say. To some degree, I agree with this thinking. But when I really think about it, you can call every moment in life 'fate'. Never mind how hard you work at something. Never mind how you orchestrate you life to go 'as planned'. Never mind getting a wild hair in your behind and doing something unusual.  If something happens to throttle your progress, well "it just wasn't meant to be."  But who gets to decide what or was not 'meant' to be? Does that mean you give up on your dreams because shit happens? And on the flip, all your hard work pays off! The credit just goes to some universal being, God or otherwise, for making it happen?

Some things are certainly out of our control.  You do all you can and your future lies in someone else's hands. I think that fate can play a part in some aspects of life but it takes work to make it go any further.  So many times people just want things to fall in their lap.  No work involved...no effort. And when it doesn't, well 'fate' just gave them a excuse to be lazy. Take control of your own destiny.  Stop relying on some universal magic fairy dust to get what you want in life.

I promise that Vegas would not have the prophetic declaration of having the man in the story win.  It doesn't match their business plan. Which means this 'fate' thing would have to play one against another. He won the bet. But as we all should know about conception, there is still no guarantee.  I wish the best to them and hope they get what they wish for - children are amazing additions to the world. But if, God forbid, their one shot doesn't work, was it not meant to be after all? Everything in life is a gamble. Risks are inherent in our nature. Just be prepared for the consequence without pinning it on fate.

C.

The Many Faces of S

WARNING!  MOM BRAG!

The kid is good at taking pictures.  I never realized his true potential until I saw these shots. He's got something in this blood - Performing? Acting? Modeling?  Whatever it is, I am sure he will find his place in front of people somehow.  Thank you, Jennifer!!

 

C.

 

 

The Day After...

Yesterday was called a "blizzard" by the weather people. I think that was a bit of an exaggeration. It snowed.  It was a little windy.  Hardly a blizzard in my opinion. Sure, we got 8 or 10 inches of the white stuff and sure, I didn't want to go out an drive in it.  But c'mon. Those meteorologists sure to have a way of making much to do about a little snow.

I had the distinct pleasure of moving this crap around - while wearing my husband's snow boots. I don't have any - fail.  This wasn't the light and fluffy sort of snow.  No, ma'am.  It was the heavy, awesome-for-snowball, kind. And since we are a bit old-fashioned, I got to use a shovel. Oh, how I long for a snow blower. My neighbor, who apparently got one, didn't bother to go beyond her invisible property line either.  Not surprised.  This is the same lady that never, and I mean NEVER, mows under the split-rail fence that serves as a property line between our lawns. Somehow that is my job. But I digress...

The kiddo joined me for a bit while I was shoveling. He was having a ball! I wish I could play "imagination" correctly...I usually mess up the details.  I had to send him in after about 30 minutes because the wind was just biting at our cheeks. I was getting a bit tired but wasn't done yet. I was just glad both cars were in the driveway.  I would have wanted no part of digging around a car in the street. I gave myself a marble since it took me 45 minutes.

Fast forward to today...sore back! Luckily I used my arms and other muscles enough that it didn't make my lower back sore. My shoulders were a bit taxed yesterday but are fine today.  My trapezious and lattisimus dorsi are the sore ones.  I'm pleased to know that 1. they are still there, 2. I worked them out.

Blizzard. Psh.

C.

Totally Cheating

I would first like to say that I did earn a workout marble today.  That being said, I ruined it with letting my inner fat kid come out and play. (Cheat #1 - diet) I'm a big carb lover. Huge. And it goes without saying that it is harder for me to tell which consumes more of my carb budget - pasta or sugar. I'm a big giant sweets fiend. I suppose it's no wonder I have a partnership in a cupcake bakery.

Cupcakes...which go back to cake...which goes back to cake batter.  Oh delicious, raw cake batter. There is little better in this world.  It is a miracle that I manage to get any in the oven. But it doesn't stop at cake batter for me.  There is also cookie batter.  And brownie batter. And ice cream. Then some sweet genius finally put cake batter and ice cream together. Sweet Baby Jesus - heaven on Earth! But the anty keeps getting upped with countless cake batter creations. It was time for me to try something I've seen - cake batter rice krispy treats. Oh. Yeah.

I made them. (Cheat #2 - used boxed cake mix) They are good.  Not as good as I was expecting but it could be because I got a nice little bellyache from eating the batter from the cake batter cookies I made as well.  The baked cookies were not delicious. I would rather have a sugar cookie.  I know. I just said that.

The shit show didn't stop at the RC treats.  I also added a bit of Ben & Jerry's....there may have been chocolate covered potato chip clusters in the flavor. Maybe. I did exercise some restraint and only got a little bit (1/4c perhaps) from the cardboard container. I was only able to eat half the treat too...

I guess the diet might be working.  I can't handle this crap like I could about 4 weeks ago. I should probably double up on the workouts tomorrow to make up for it. That might make two of my A.P.s happy.

C.

Cupcake Cobblers

We have worn many hats over the course of this past year and yesterday we got to add another to our arsenal - cobbler. We were up very late last night fashioning some cupcake high heels for a 30th birthday.  A "must" from the client was a few with cheetah print. Check. She also wanted some pale green and pink.  We added the bows to punch up the adorable and girly factor. Check the runway for this new brand, "Fab30"! So fun and mega cute!

Eat your heart out, Manolo Blahnik!
C.

Blasted Door Tag: Take 2

The signed door tag did the trick.  The package was delivered.  I should have known - the replacement phone is a refurbished one. And wouldn't you know it - it is WHACK!

I turned it on and it said there was about 70% battery.  In the middle of setting it up, it turned off. Completely.  I tried to turn it back on. No dice. I plugged it in. The charge said 70%. So I turn it on and get it going again. In the middle of setting it up, it turned off. Rinse and repeat.

This time there was suddenly no charge on the battery.  So while it is plugged in, I attempted again to set this thing up.  I was going to add our WiFi to it and since it is a completely nonsensical password,  I was planning to take the device with me to retrieve the password. Bam. Turned off. Keep in mind the battery icon on the screen says it was fully charged. So I plug back in.

Again, attempts were made to finish setting the dog-gone thing up...and again, it turned off completely.  I quit.  It is charging but I'm not going to hold my breath for anything. I mean if the phone isn't even sure of how much battery life it has, how can I? Makes me wonder if that is why they had the phone to give to schmuck #2 anyway.

At the rate this thing is going, I should probably start carrying quarters and get a map of payphones.

C.

A Blasted Door Tag

My phone bit the dust.  It decided not to turn on any more on Monday.  This comes after a couple of months of not being about to use my home buttons. I had to shut off the thing completely in order to get out of any app or screen.  Also, texting had been a little on the tricky side since menus would randomly pop up while in the middle of texting often deleting my message all together or sending me somewhere else on my phone...I cannot tell you how much cursing occurred while dealing with my POS. There were countless occasions where I wanted to throw the damn thing out the window and run it over about 24 times or let it sink to the bottom a lake. But I didn't...and then it died.

I finally called my phone company after finding out that I was still under warranty. Yay!  After speaking with a rep about the phone, she said they would send me a new one. Victory! I went ahead and paid for overnight shipping since it makes me a bit nervous being without a communication device working so far from my kiddo...and given my track record with my trusty ride. So I took half the day off from work yesterday to be home for the delivery (a signature was required) and also to be home in time for parent/teacher conferences. As I pull into my driveway, the explicatives started.  I saw this:

Are you effing kidding  me?! The one time, ONE TIME, I wanted FedEx to be late, they weren't. As I examine the door tag I see that I can pick up my package after 6:55p.  Hmmm, I probably won't be doing that but if I wanted to, the facility closes at 7p!  Really, FedEx? A 5-minute window? Stupid.

I signed the door tag and remembered to actually put it outside for the driver with a note as to where I would like him to leave the box. I hope he follows those directions because it is snowy out and I don't really want to have another damaged phone.  Someone might need to commit me.

Please don't steal my phone.

C.

Audrey

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.  I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything else seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn


The only thing I would change is kissing...I think hugs are more powerful. :)

C.

A. P.

Lots of times we say how we should do this,  want to do that. Going to do this, maybe I'll do that. But often times these things just become words. No meaning behind it. And most of those times friends just listen and that's about as far as it goes. Well, this time is different.

I have found myself smack dab in the middle of 3 A. P.s. What's an A.P.? Accountability Partner. These are people that either keep you in line to your goals OR join you in your goals and ask for you to keep their tabs too. I've got 3 of the latter.

There's the husband. Tonight we did a jiu jitsu workout. It was unlike anything else I've done but that's great! "So we do this 3x a week?" Oh sure....so we are now accountable to each other for getting these workouts in.

Second,  I'm on a program with the bestie. I need her for this! I think her support for me is more important that mine of hers but I'm just glad we're in it together.

And lastly, I've got a friend with whom we are working the marbles.  A marble for each workout...along with 'punishment' marbles for not making the minimum each week. This one outta get interesting.

Oh! And I a few months, I'll have a workout buddy after she gives birth to her little girl.

My point with it all is this - with 3 people on my behind, it is going to be tougher to just not do it. We all need support. We all need an A.P. Whether it is for getting a workout in, getting homework done, or just a shoulder to cry on because we are feeling weak, support systems are priceless. I consider myself lucky to have such souls around me.

Much love,
C.

Santa Fe Art District

Denver is culturally rich. You can find just about any kind of cuisine, art, music, and if you look hard enough, pastime. I have found myself enjoying some swell antique shopping on Broadway and on another day hitting the ballpark for some Colorado Rockies baseball. The two aren't terribly far from one another. Today, I was introduced to the Santa Fe Art District.  Jennifer brought us here to do our annual family photos.  This year we went urban and I couldn't be happier that we did.  We started off here...

There was this groovy little art gallery which happened to house some of the biggest, fattest, friendliest pack of bulldogs I've ever seen!  These were some cute little dudes.  And they flocked to Sloan. We weren't planning to shoot inside - but outside rather under a cool building sign but who can resist some grunty bulldogs that like to greet passersby? This was just a short distraction. Back to work...

We made our way down a back alley way that had tons of very cool commissioned graffiti art.  Mr. Modeltime, aka Sloan, took advantage of the camera time and came up with some cool spots of his own that he wanted to pose at. I'm so thankful that Jen and Lindy were willing to entertain the kid and indulge his need to "make love to the camera."

Along the way I snapped a few pictures of my own...some that I thought really spoke to the beauty of urbanism. This is a picture of a "film drop" in an old photography studio.  Now I guess it would be a disc drop or a memory card drop...does film even exist anymore? Sorry, Kodak, technology really jacked you.

Then I saw these...it caught my eye because these are usually on the side or backs of buildings. The age of this district really shows.

And more...

Free big marble anyone??

It was actually a marble block for free but I thought it was funnier this way...beware of editing! :) We visited some stoops, a bench, some modern metal art, and ended our time at another fantastic graffiti piece. Sloan really rocked it! It was a bit windy so I'm really unsure how any of the ones I'm in will look...hair. The boys are going to look mighty handsome because, well, they don't have to worry about hair placement.

C.

Pink Dolphins

It was bit of a lazy day after doing some work for that hobbyjob.  Here is what we, CLBS, made today for a little girl's 7th birthday.

We're talking strawberry cake filled with strawberry compote and strawberry/vanilla layered buttercream, pink and white sugar pearls, pink edible glitter, and a pink chocolate dolphin.  This ain't no Duncan Hines! Now I ask you, could this BE any more girly? I, for one, love how these little treats turned out. :)

The picture above is only posted because I took it.  Here is the good one - that John Karp Photography makes us look goooood!

 I have an extra.  I might eat it.

C.
 

Hair Did

...as in "getting my hair did." There is something very special about getting hairs cut.  If you are like me and love having your hair touched/pet, this is one of your favorite places to be. Let's break it down:

1. Decide it is time. That is half the battle.
2. Call for an appointment.
3. Make sure you have several dates of availability because it is likely your favorite stylist is also the favorite of others and s/he is booked.
4. Wait for said appointment.
5. Decision time on day of appointment - do I wash my hair or not?? I usually do because no one wants to run their fingers thru whack, unclean hair. I don't care who you are.
6. Appointment time.
7. Sit in 'the chair'.
8. Let the stylist play for a minute - talk about what you want, what you need, what you don't want, get on the same page...
9. WASH TIME! Oh glorious wash time. This is one of the best parts. Not only is someone else touching my hair, but washing it and massaging my scalp.  Sweet Jesus, it is amazing.
10. Now for the cut. (thinking to myself, "Please don't forget what we discussed...")
11. She's cutting and talking and cutting and talking and adjusting and talking and tweaking and talking....stylists are a breed of their own.  I have a hard time carrying on a conversation while I'm concentrating on something else.  They do it like it's their job! Oh...
12. Dry time. Gotta check on the creation.
13. It's mostly dry but now for dry cutting and more texturizing.
14. Style. And here's the mirror to look at the back...

Then the heavens open up and a soft light comes out of the clouds to shine on my new 'do! I think the angels sing...pretty sure of it.

There isn't anything quite like getting your hair done.  It is fresh. It feels fabulous. You come away with a spring in your step and a new need to toss your hair around. You get your swagger back, if only for a moment. 

And, finally, here is my shameless plug for Angel - go to her!!! Flirt Salon. She specializes in cut and style - she knows her stuff. She has been cutting on my hair for a little while now (almost 2 years) and I have never been disappointed. http://www.flirtsalondenver.com/stylists/angel.html

C.

Heart Day

Cupid, the Greek god, meets St. Valentine,  meets Crown Hallmark. February 14th. It's like Christmas - happens the same day every year. It's a day in which chocolate hearts are a big deal, florists are hoppin, and maître d's have booked all their tables.

Manufactured romance some call it. But I see it as a opportunity. An opportunity to show the ones you love that you care. Lets face it, we take the ones we love for granted and don't always take the time to appreciate them. We are creatures of habit which is part of the reason holidays work.  We are 'supposed' to do this on this day....that on another day. Is it really so terrible that there is a day that we are 'supposed' to show love?  With the hustle and bustle of our busy American lives,  a little reminder doesn't hurt. Just ask Siri.

Romance is tricky business. Not one thing works for everyone. Some like flower dancing...And other like candles.  Whether you prefer flowers, a card, wine, bubbles, jewelry, or monster trucks, remember to take some time today and other random Thursdays during to year to show that special one you care..and appreciate...and love. Make it a habit. In this aspect of life, a little goes a long way.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

xoxo,

C.

Mediocre Valentines

It's my own fault.  I'm a procrastinator. I have big ideas but it put them off until the 11:59th hour and then it is too late.  I've been like this as long as I can remember.  I used to say that I just like working under pressure.  That is a damn lie. I'm just not a get-it-done-ahead-of-time sort of gal.

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and that means children all across the country will be getting silly little pieces of paper with cheesy lines like, "I CHOO CHOO CHOOSE you!" I remember the days of going through my Valentines cards and carefully assigning certain messages to certain people because God forbid someone you think is icky get the wrong idea from your terribly written VDay card.

Making sure everyone in the class gets one is the right and fair thing to do...one for everyone or none at all.  That is how it was when I was a tenderfoot and it is nice to know that things haven't changed dramatically in that regard. We used to make construction paper envelope taped to the front of our desk to house our many valentines. The ones with a piece of candy were the best!!

Now that it is my turn, it is time to up the anty.  Last year, I took hours to make robots. Very cute. Very timely. Sent with candy. This year, since I waited so long, I couldn't get as crafty as I would have liked.  So I did what I could with what was left at the store...

...goody bags.  Cupid bags, stampers, pencils, pencil toppers, ribbon, and candy.  The beauty of this? No lame messages!  No "I <3 U!". No "Wild thing you make my heart sing!" nonsense.  Just stuff and sugar.  That's all 6 and 7 year olds want anyway.  They couldn't give a rip about a kitten with big eyes saying "XOXO". (stepping on soapbox)  And really I don't think that is appropriate for little children.  (off soapbox)

All the bags are the same except the girls got a little bit of ribbon in theirs.  I'm sure they can use it for something...girls find uses for sparkly things.

My apologies to my son for being a sub par class mom-o this Vday...hopefully his prezzie will make up for it. :)

C.

Working Mom/Wife/Person

Taking care of a family is no easy or small task.  There is much to do: tend to the husband, tend to the children, tend to the family pets, tend to the house...

For the women whose full-time job is family, that makes for a busy day.  There never seems to be enough time. Or they are superstars and get it all done with time enough to spare to take a shower and make themselves look pretty!

I, on the other hand, must work full-time to contribute to our functioning household. (I also have that little part-time hobbyjob that takes place after-hours.) My child, albeit against our preferred choice, has been in daycare since the tender age of 3 months. But I don't think this makes me a bad mom.  It just makes me a mom that has an additional job to do besides my kiddo...and wifing...and groundskeeper.

I like things to be neat and orderly but I'll be honest, it isn't always so.  We do live in our house.  Things are sometimes out of place. There is dust on my wall art and the baseboards aren't white-glove clean.  The rug needs vacuumed again and the floor could use to be swept. We don't, however, look like we are in need of an intervention from the British women of "How Clean is Your House?"

My mornings are hectic and my days can be a blur.  I'm usually quite tired when I get home. Dinner is usually waiting (I'm a lucky wife!) but sometimes we eat out. Our meals aren't always the most nutritious but we aren't scraping by to feed ourselves.

The nights usually consist of dinner cleanup, homework, letting the dogs out and in about 700 times, getting the child clean, putting him to bed, household discussions, catching up on recorded TV, news, and finally bedtime. Then, on a good night, I'll actually fall asleep for a bit.

Tonight there is evidence of weekend chores on the ottoman. A good wife would have promptly put the laundry away after folding it.  I didn't. It is still there.  And I'm relaxing. Some household discussions are soon to come...

My house is not a spectacular specimen but it works. My family always eats our meals together at the dinner table and I wouldn't have it any other way. The dogs are smart enough to 'tell' us when they want to go outside.  I'm fortunate enough to have a full-time career to go to everyday to help support my little family that I wouldn't trade for the world. I'm no superwoman...and if being a superwoman means I can't take a break once in a while, I don't want to be one. I don't have much time in my day for much of anything.

Feet up for now...

C.

#42

I missed publishing last night. I just plain spaced it out. But my lovely little darlings blessed me with a story to tell from this morning...

After they eat their breakfast, they get jerky treats.  Apparently they need a reward for eating. Lily gets hers first then Maggie then I break Dahlia's up a bite at a time or else she will swallow the thing whole. Lily runs away to eat hers.  Otherwise she may lose it to the thievery of the ruthless jerks that are her little sisters.

This morning was much of the same except Lily wasn't coming back to the sunroom.  They get quarantined there during the day while we are at work. She finally came back and had her treat hanging out of her mouth.  Dahlia took it right out of her mouth! WHAT?!  Oh no...no, no, no. You did NOT just steal her treat from her face! D ran right into her kennel to try and hide the evidence. I promptly pulled her out and tried to take the treat from her mouth but she was in the middle of swallowing it.  I wasn't gonna go for the gullet.

So then, THEN, she ran under a table and wouldn't come out. This is not happening.  I was grabbing for her and she kept moving further and further into the corner. I had to move a box to get to her and then the little a-hole tried to bite me! Oh it's on now!! I finally got my hands around the little punk and scolded her like she was a child. "You do NOT try to bite me! How DARE you?!" As if she understood my words...but she certainly understood the tone.

She was immediately placed in her kennel and I was nice enough to give her back the pillow she drug out the day before. I love her but just as with a child, she will respect her parents.

C.

What Do You Do on Sunday?

Some folks watched basketball.  Some folks went up to play on the mountain.  Me?  Here's what I did...

• woke up
• waited for a drive-by cupcaking
• folded some laundry
• took some laundry to the basement
• took a nap...a nice loooooong nap
• offspring woke me up from napping once he was done with his
• made lunch
• took a shower
• laid down on couch
• played a made up kid-is-a-koala game
• looked at some super awesome new pics of our cupcakes
• fought exhaustion and went to Zumba
• didn't get my spot
• went to dinner
• now telling people about it...

Nothing particularly funny or interesting happened today. But there was this....it's ok! It's ok!  I worked out..

  I'm ready for bed...

C.

When in Rome

Today I watched an 80s-inspired music video about going to the mall...think big hair, swivel hips dance moves, and singing about ridiculous things that happen in the mall.  I also read a blog about how a guys-guy doesn't exist anymore because of how much their women have made them Nancys.

Then my son asks me to go the mall to get a new character for his video game since he and his dad couldn't find the right one earlier today.

On our way into the mall, we pass a rather large gaggle of teenage girls.  "Geez, what is so funny?" Sloan says to me.  "I don't know..they are just a bunch of giggly girls." "There isn't even ONE boy! There are so many of them!"

We get to the game store and am lucky enough to find what he was after.  On to the food court for dinner. As we are eating, he says to me, "You know, there are a lot of girls here.  What's up with that?" "I guess girls just like to hang out at the mall, buddy." I really had nothing clever to say...I was just impressed with the observation.

There was a part of me that wanted to follow some of these girls around just to see what they did.  I'm sure there would have been copious amounts of acting cool, laughing at strangers, gossiping about classmates, posting pictures on Facebook...things don't change much between ages 12 and 32 when you're observing mall pack behavior. And while some things have changed, the 80s video is still pretty accurate. I'd still be looking for a new shirt with this week's allowance if I got one.

And as far as my fellow bloggster goes, the men were somewhere else.  They may have been home doing the laundry or watching their wives doing more manly things like cleaning their guns for their shooting date tomorrow...or maybe, just maybe, they were playing poker and drinking beer with the guys.

Check out John's blog: http://prostjck.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-call-to-arms.html :)
And the video Correy shared: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_bhVSGKEg :)

C.

Fail.

I cannot bring myself to write a decent entry tonight. It has been a heavy, trying day.

Better luck tomorrow...

C.

IHOP

This conversation happened once between and friend and me in high school...

Her: "Where do you want to eat?"
Me: "I don't know...how about IHOP?"
Her: "I've never been there.  How about International House of Pancakes? It is right down the road."
Me: ..............*staring and waiting*...............
Her: "O.M.G."
Me: "Yep."

The pancakes: divine. The omelets (albeit super unhealthy): delicious.  (I've heard they put some of that crack pancake batter in the omelets - idk if that is true.) Soft drinks: Pepsi brand...WIN! But the mecca of pancakes has one thing that I covet: butter pecan syrup. Liquid. Gold.

Now, I've purchased butter pecan syrup before and it just doesn't stack up (get it?!) to that of IHOP. I mean would it kill them to bottle the stuff for sale at my local supermarket? Or even in there restaurant? It isn't exactly ideal to sneak a sticky bottle of table syrup into one's purse but the thought has crossed my mind.

I don't know why they even bother with regular maple, strawberry, blueberry and the red-headed stepchild boysenberry. All anyone needs is butter pecan.

Since I'm working on behaving myself at meal time, I didn't have a big plate of pancakes drowning in BP like I would have wished.  I did not, however, eat all of my meal in favor of a bite (or 2) of V's.  It seemed like an even trade.

I wonder if I took my own bottle in if they would just, you know, fill 'er up??  I need something good for Toaster Waffle Sunday.

C.
 

Heart Conditions

The heart.  It is an extraordinary organ and pumps our very life blood throughout of body.  Without a heart, we would be dead...much like the cadaver heart my good friend, Stephanie, dissected in her higher education class today. But the figurative implications can be just as interesting...

Emotions happen within our brain - in the limbic system located just beneath the cortex.  But for an unknown period of time and for an unknown reason, we have associated emotions with the heart. There are countless theories on the subject but no one true story. It is also unknown how the stylized version we associate with love came about. If we are lucky, we'll all get to see a version of this on the 14th.

Wuv. Twew wuv...to love with all your heart. Unconditional love. For me, there are only two people in the whole word that could never do anything to make me not love them - my mom and my son. I thought I knew love when I married my husband...and I love him very much. I would give my life to save his. But when my son was born, a whole new level of love was opened up. 

A mother's love is very primitive...it's not something I think about. It is not something I work hard at. It just is.  Mama Bear. And if there is real danger coming my cubs way, you better believe I'm gonna rearrange said danger. But something else happened when my baby was born - empathy for other children... You never want something bad to happen to kids, but once you can put yourself in the position of that happening to YOUR kid, oh how things change.

Now imagine those people who are "heartless". Those that are apathetic to situations around them...those that do not give a rip about what happens to anyone else. They have a living heart but why is there an emotional disconnect to their organ? Perhaps they just haven't had the right life experiences for their hearts to work right. I'm not sure where I'm even going with all this but it just makes me think - was I ever like that?  Yes, we all were.  Infants do not know empathy or sympathy. They don't know how to love. They just know they need food and want to feel good.

So often we guard our hearts - past experiences tell us that is the right thing to do. But then that moment comes along when you are lucky enough to finally open up and let love in, and your world changes forever. And just as babies find out, it feels good to love.

C.

T.E.A.M.

Every since I could start, I have been playing team sports.  I love to compete and hate to lose. I learned from a young age what it meant to win as a TEAM and to lose as a TEAM. "You're only as strong as your weakest link."  Little did I know that this would ring true outside the field/court. 

To become "one", a team must train together, learn strategy together, make mistakes together, and practice together. A team gets rewarded together and punished as a whole.

To be successful in most situations, you must know how to work with other people - whether in the workplace, in a relationship, or on an actual team roster. A team can be as small as two and countlessly large. The branches of our fine military exemplify what can be accomplished when all cylinders are running at full speed in perfect unison. We have our freedom. I wouldn't be able to blog without it.

Tough Mudder is a race - a long, painful race that requires teamwork - which A. you must sign a death waiver to participate, and 2. has this as part of their pledge, "...I put teamwork and camaraderie before my race time....I help my fellow mudders complete the course..."A TM never leaves a man/woman behind.  I will say with pride that the Iron Mudders held true to that pledge. There was no 'I' in our team...there was no 'me' in our team.

That race changed me. All I was concerned about was getting our whole team across the finish line together - and we all (5 of us) had the very same concern.  Not one person thought of finishing without the team.  There was a job to be done and it required all members to be fully onboard to complete the challenge.

It is much easier to get to the goal when everyone is on the same page. Had someone bowed out early, it would have been detrimental to the morale and strategy of the group - in the race, at the game, or in the office. "There is no quit in here."

Take that philosophy into your everyday life.  And if you find that you have an 'I' in the 'A-hole'...

C.
 

Thanks, Darlin!

The scene: Brothers BBQ
The characters: Me, Sloan, and two employees
The situation: Sloan and I go in to pick-up dinner to take home. There is a gentleman in front of us and I am perusing the menu really just deciding on the side dish.  I ask Sloan what he prefers - this or that - and he goes with 'this'. It's our turn:

Employee 1 (E1): Hello Darlin!
Me: Hi.
E1: What can I get you, Darlin?
Me: (getting a bit irritated) I would like 'blah blah blah' with 'blah blah'.
E1: Is this for here or to go, Darlin?
Me: (more irritated because last time I checked a 6yo and I don't look like we can put away a pound of meat and the excessive use of Darlin) To go, please.
E1: What's your name, Darlin?
Me: Chantel
E1: Ok, Darlin. That'll be up in a few minutes.

SCRATCH MY EYES OUT! STOP CALLING ME DARLIN! I'd also like to add that she was at least 14 years my junior. Wearing hipster frames, skinny jeans, and a nose ring.  Nowhere in her normal vocabulary does "darlin" live. I get that it is a BBQ joint and perhaps she is trying to make me feel more comfortable by upping the country-anty.  She's doing it all wrong.

I, personally, cannot stand to be called names of endearment by strangers that are younger than me. If you are trying to be nice, either use my name that I just gave you or stick to ma'am. Stop calling me darlin, sweetheart, sugar, honey, or anything else you think is cute. You don't know me. I'm not your sweetheart. The only time you can get away with that crap is if you are a 65+ elderly person - then I like it.  Otherwise, those words are reserved for people I know and like.

I maintained my composure because I had my son with me and I'm not one to make a scene or get into a confrontation. But even he noticed the ridiculousness, "Why did she keep calling you Darlin?" "I don't know, buddy. I just don't know."

C.

She's OBSESSED!

2-1/2 months.  That is how long we have had the lizard.  2-1/2 months. That is how long we have been feeding a creature that lives in our house other live creatures that live in our house. Gross.

Lily noticed the thing right away and would watch him, aka Petey, from the safety of Sloan's bed. If she was feeling adventurous, she would get a little closer and just sit and watch.  She is over him now. Maggie, on the other hand, just noticed the little bugger this weekend.  O.M.G.

I know what you're thinking, "Come on...not another dog post!"  Well, it is another dog post but please understand that I have more of these "people" than I do people in my house.  They are characters. They play a part. :)

Maggie is a bird dog.  She NEEDS to get the bird! It's like I'm taking away her birthday when I don't let her.  Lily has enlisted her help chasing down the squirrels SHE has beef with in the backyard.  Vicious.

We were minding our business vegging out watching TV and Mags is nowhere to be found. I ask where she is and about the same time I hear her whine.  I go upstairs to see if she is locked in a room and nope...she is locked out of a glass lizard aquarium. Her sights were set. She was focused. A little later we hear her scratching at the tank! Oh sh*t!

Today has been much of the same.  She has been up in Petey's grill all day! At this point, I think the lizard is starting to tease her intentionally...just perched up on his factory manufactured plastic rock saying "Nananahbooboo!" If he isn't careful, she will knock over that tank and will be a goner. In the meantime, I find it humorous that she sits and stares. "I'll get you, my pretty..."

C. 

Pinterest Project #2 - Sticker Art

I've seen this one on Pinterst a lot of times in many variations - a DIY art project.  Looks easy - canvas, stickers, paint.  You make your own 'saying' with the stickers and viola! Custom art! Today I decided to give it a whirl. Since Valentine's is just around the corner and I've been thinking about this one for a while, it is a perfect time for me to do "love in different languages". Turns out, I'm not the only brainiac with this idea this year.  Nuts.

Equipment: blank canvas, paint, paint brushes, sponge brushes, stickers in various fonts, tweezers, push pins, newspaper, music.

Let's start with the stickers selection.  The sticker aisle(s) can be quite intimidating as I found.  I wanted a nice assortment of fonts.  I found some nice ones and then took a closer look - these don't really look like the letters as far as the outline goes.  Make sure you are selecting letters in which the holes are cut out - i.e. in the loop of the 'e'.

After you have your stickers picked, buy them. Then go home.  Decide on your color palette - I picked three: silver, purple, and yellow. Paint the base coat (this is the color that will be under the stickers). I painted two areas yellow so that certain words would stand out from the rest.

Now, wait. Turn on the ceiling fan and walk away.  This  baby needs to dry before you get crazy with your stickers.

Once the paint is dry comes the painstaking task of putting your stickers on.  I used tweezers because I had some dainty stickers and it helped keep my hands out of the way. This took much longer than I anticipated.

Make sure those suckers are nice and stuck before you move to the next step.  Some of mine kept popping up. Attach the push pins to the bottom of the canvas at all four corners.  This will keep your project from sticking to the paper since you will now be painting the sides. Cover the entire surface with your final color. I had to "pounce" on the letters with my sponge brush to make sure the paint got around the edges of the stickers. Also use caution when pulling the paint over more delicate stickers.

Now, wait again. Catch up on Words with Friends, play some solitaire, watch the Chipmunks with your kid(s)...just give this one some time.  Once the whole thing is dry, pull your stickers.  I used the tweezers for this as well.

It sort of worked. The paint bled under the stickers in a lot of cases. 

This required me to get in there with a steady hand and tiny brush to touch it up. 

This little project took me about 3x longer than I expected.  I'm only a little satisfied with the end product.  I'm not sure if it will actually make its way onto any of my walls. 

The languages represented are Romanian, Dutch, Finnish, French, Croatian, Italian, Swahili, Welsh, German, English, and SMS.

C.

 

 

She Poops....She Scores!

Let me tell you about my morning....

It all started regularly - getting my boy and myself ready for school and work, respectively. I come back home after the school drop-off and as I'm about to leave, I have some very sad looking puppy dog eyes looking in my general direction.  Ok, girls, you can come to work today. And in dog-speak, "YIPPY!"

I only brought 2/3 of the gang.  I thought I would give Lily a mental break. :) So I prepare for the drive by placing a towel on my front seat 'just in case'. I needed it....

I get a block down the road, and Dahlia, the Duchess of Dook, drops a tootsie roll in the passenger seat. OMG! REALLY?! You went out before we left! Both dogs are now in my lap.  I pull over after cursing at the dogs to get in the back seat and lean over to open the door and whip the turds out...except I don't get the door open enough and one of the bootycakes goes into the door pocket. Blood pressure rising... "How the hell am I going to get this out?!?!?!" I had a napkin in the glove box (WHEW!) and attempt at getting this thing out without it touching me and it breaks in effing half. Breathe, Chantel. No breathing...just yelling! I finally get the poop out and look in the backseat and my dogs are terrified! Frankly, they should have been. I don't take kindly to poop in my front seat!

I apologize to the dogs for yelling and get back on the road. It was quite a hassle because they are quite jealous of each other and if one is in my lap, well then both need to be there. Obviously. I finally get them both to the passenger seat and now here it comes - the real reason I prepared with a towel.  Dahlia gets carsick.  She is a puker. Puke #1 out. And then back in. Yes. Puke #2 a little later.  Out and then back in except this time I nearly lost my cookies too.  Maggie was looking at me desperately to sit in my lap to get away from the carnage.

Now that we are both sick to our stomachs, I roll into the parking lot at work only to find D tossing a third pile right in between my seat and console.  FML.  I mean really.  How am I going to clean THAT up?!?! Serenity now...serenity now... I guess I'm cracking the windows.

At work.  All is well.  I give the girls some potty breaks and Maggie is a good soldier and goes outside like an animal is supposed to. But not, Dahlia. No, sir. She waits until I go get some complimentary pizza and wings to make her own Lake Erie on the carpet. Why? WHY?!

I try to do something nice.  Maggie was a perfect little gem all day.  But D, now the Duchess of Puke, or Devil, is on my shit list. (Isn't that punny!)  Now to do something about her cuteness so that I can stay mad at her...

C.