It's the Little Things

I'm the first person to assert it's the little things that make the biggest impact on your life.  These little things can bring you much happiness and fulfillment, or they can make you want to claw people's eyes out.  (Check back soon for a post on "Finding the humor in things when you want to claw someone's eyes out.")  In my work life, that means playing "Arma-did-you-know" instead of just telling students to research facts on armadillos.  Or by making tally marks every time "that" student sneezes because they do it SO much and they are SO annoying you want to punt them down the hallway every time it happens.  The tally marks help.  You want to beat the high score every day.  One day it was 17.  Seventeen.  Sneezes.  From one student.  Now you're silently praying for animal dander and a high pollen count so you can break into the 20s!  It'll happen some day.

Anyway, in my home life, it's a little different.  I was writing all the year's birthdays and anniversaries on our new calendar the other day.  (Yes, literally, the other day.  Yes it's April.  Yes, I have had to apologize to everyone who's birthday I missed in January, February and March because we didn't have a calendar up at the time.)  So, as I am finishing up, I automatically flip through last year's calendar to December, unstick the picture of me that I cut out from a school picture that is taped over a snowboarder's face, and stick it on this year's calendar.  Just like everyone else does, right?  That made me stop and figure up how long I've been taping my face on calendars.  I think it was 2002 when I owned a calendar of airplanes.  I cut my face out of a picture and taped it on the airplane so it looked like I was flying it.  It was just something kind of funny that I could look at every day.  It made me smile.  As far as I remember, I've been doing it ever since!  I've been taped on airplanes, taped over nostalgic advertisements of ladies drinking bottles of soda, and, most years, I've been taped over the faces of snowboarders.  It's my favorite place to be taped because then each month I can imagine I'm catching big air and landing in wicked pow.  Okay, I don't think snowboarders actually talk like that, but still, that's what I'd be doing.  Every month I get to see myself doing something I love in a beautiful part of God's country.  It's a little thing, but it makes me smile every time I look at the calendar.

That made me curious so I starting walking around my house noticing all the things that make me look like a friggin' weirdo to the general public I have that make me happy when I see them on a daily basis. Some of these are kind of weird to talk about in isolation because they've become such a part of my daily life that they seem so normal.  I mean, seriously, why wouldn't someone have a file cabinet to store their clothes?  Having a spouse trophy seems as normal has having silverware in a kitchen drawer.  I could go on, but I'll just let you in on some of my favorite "little things" that spice up my life.  I have a feeling I'm also about to let you in on how much your friend here is a crazy person who may just have a touch of "white trash" coursing through her veins, but, well, that's small stuff that I'm going to just have to find the humor in and not worry about.  :)

Let's begin with the calendar picture.  This year's calendar is all about the elements on the periodic table, and I definitely don't want my taped face associated with that, so I had to improvise.  And it worked!  Got a hug from the hubs!

Old refrigerator magnets from when I lived with roommates in college.  And old roommates' things still being affixed to the fridge by said magnets.

A snowboarding action figure that I've had tucked under the refrigerator door handle for as long as I can remember.  This seems so commonplace.  His name is J. P. after J. P. Walker, my favorite professional snowboarder and the best jibber on the planet.

"The" file cabinet.  The best dresser ever.  The drawers are really deep and they always slide smoothly. As I took the picture, I wondered how many people on a tour of my house have looked at this, never knowing that this is just where we keep our clothes.  No matter how successful I become in life, I hope I always have a file cabinet as a dresser.  It's just so practical!

I love pictures and I enjoy looking at these pictures every morning when I wake up.  If you're on my wall, you mean the world to me.  I value my relationships so much, I want to constantly have the images of my friends and family nearby.

Metal signs.  Thumbtacked to the wall, in most cases.  As with pictures and just about everything else hanging in my house, you can never underestimate the power of a pushpin.  Each one has a story.  And I loooove to tell stories.  You have been warned.

So that's just a few of the small things in my life that make a big impact.  As I'm trying to close this blog post, I keep thinking of more and more "small things" I have laying around that make me so happy.  Like the "I believe in Jesus" window cling on my bathroom mirror.  That's kind of weird but it makes me happy because it was on a friend's mirror in her bathroom when she died.  I always think of her when I see it.  The spouse trophy, the stop sign marker board, the tiny note from my dad that says "I love you baby" and so on.  What do you have that makes you smile each day?

Stomach Flu with a View

I had a stomach bug.  I guess I still have symptoms that I'm recovering from but it is NOTHING like yesterday.  It's been 20 years or better since I've been sick with flu-like symptoms.  I never took it for granted, either.  Every time someone would have the flu, I would always whisper a quick prayer of thankfulness that I didn't have it, and hadn't had it for some time.  Never, ever, would I even THINK of saying, I haven't had the flu in over 20 years.  I'm smart enough to know you never mention a no-hitter.

That's the problem with being a relatively thankful person.  If you never take something for granted, like two decades of no puking, when it does eventually happen, you feel twice as bad and upset because you tried so hard to recognize your good fortune, and, apparently that alone should have kept all the bad things away.  It doesn't happen.  Instead, you're abandoned by your husband left in the care of your puppies all day on a Friday.  My wonderful abandoner husband made sure I was set up in a freshly fluffed Lovesac downstairs with a medley of clear liquids, a cocktail of medicines, and a stack of entertaining reading material.  Upstairs, he set everything I would need to make a can of soup.  Well, I drank the clear liquids and enjoyed the medical cocktail but the reading material proved ineffectual as I could hardly focus on the small words.  As many people know, I don't sleep very well, and since I'd gotten a whole six hours before the death plagues started, sleep did not come.  After exceeding my television watching attention span of 6 minutes, I was left immobile (except for the VERY frequent trips to the nearby bathroom) with nothing to do except stare at my basement walls.

Here are some revelations from that day:

1.  Travis has not cleaned "his" bathroom downstairs since Obama was elected President.  The first time.

2.  It is amazing that although one doesn't have the energy to climb stairs, one can very effectively clean a disgusting toilet that hasn't been cleaned in a long time.

3.  I timed my short walks to and from the bathroom nearly perfectly.  Except once.  When I fainted.  At least it was on the way back to the Lovesac.

4.  Quick, unexpected naps on the hard carpeted floor by the bathroom are usually reserved for our girl pup, Aurora.  Yesterday, she had a napping buddy while I regained consciousness.  But I'm fine.  Seriously.  I used to pass out all the time when I was little.

5.  Due to the fainting spell, I did not find it in my best interest to walk up the stairs to make soup.  It would have been fine on the way up, but making the soup and eating it would have taken too much energy and then it would have been a tumble down the stairs for sure.  Plus, I didn't really want to eat anything.  I did manage to eat 4 crackers in 10 hours.  Win.

6.  The Great Pyrenees calendar hanging on the wall by the Lovesac was stuck on September.  After pointing this out to my husband, he changed it.  To October.  I requested this though since I thought it would be an injustice not to give the October puppies any air time.

7.  I have 18 license plates hanging in my basement.

And, last but not least...

8.  I won't be eating Casey's sausage pizza for a very long time.

Last Week's Buzzwords

Headlock Kid.
Starting back to school in my class tomorrow.  This is his third school move in six months.  No wonder this kid's got problems.  I'm praying that I can be useful in this kid's life--and possibly his mom's.  Anyone who uproots their family every two months surely needs some outside help and support.

Rocko!  Brocko!  Rock.

Who is the President of the United States?  Well, that's up for debate in 3rd grade.  Granted, this was from last year, but after last week's elections, I felt it was appropriate to post after finding them today on my camera.  If you're wondering, the next question was "How many states are in the United States?"

Mm-Hmm... looks like I have my work cut out for me...

Restraints and kitten punches.
Had to restrain a kid this week.  That doesn't bother me too much.  She was just having a really bad day and has diagnosed behavior disorders, but it was the first time I've done that this year.  All I was really thinking was Wow, this girl has cat-like responses to things.  No... wait a minute.  This girl isn't strong enough to be a cat.  This girl has kitten-like responses to things.  Softest punches I've ever taken!  All in all, not too bad.

And, last but not least...

Testicles!
Shouted out during a lively game of Mad Libs the last 10 minutes of the day last Wednesday.  The boy who shouted it out had
NO.
IDEA.
what it meant.

HA!  Luckily I de-escalated the situation like a Super Teacher.
Like a Rocks the Denim Jumper kind of teacher.
Like a Talk in a Soft Voice Very Patiently kind of teacher.
Like a Listen Up Boys and Girls kind of teacher.

And, he now knows what testicles are.  So maybe I just rocked it like a Teacher Who Gives Anatomy Lessons on the Sidewalk as Your Bus is Pulling Up kind of teacher.

So that was my week.  But enough about me.  How are YOU?

My first NIECE!

Nieces are nice, I'm learning.

My first niece was born 3 days ago!  My how they grow up so fast!  It seems as if it was only yesterday that I was learning about her birth.  I haven't been able to meet her in person yet, but we have a Skype date arranged for this weekend.  Her name is Ellie Kay.  I love it.  I think she loves it too.  It makes me so happy for Zach and Anne that they get the responsibility of raising this little girl to know and love God and to change the world.  I have a feeling the upcoming holidays are going to be much different this year!  We'll probably be all laying on the floor documenting her every move.  Well, I will be anyway.

One thing that makes me sad is that I don't get to see Marva Kay indulge her role as a grandmother.  It makes me sad that I won't get to see her face light up the first time she holds her baby granddaughter and to miss hearing her speak in her always-kind soft voice.  I miss her so much but I'm completely convinced that she has indeed seen this little child, even before Zach and Anne did.  I know this little girl will know who her grandma is.  We won't even have to inflate the stories because they are all good about Marva.  She will come off sounding like the perfect mother, because indeed she was.  I'm excited to tell those stories, but my heart breaks even more thinking about having only stories and pictures to show and tell instead of having Marva there herself.

I think in a couple weeks, we'll get to meet Ellie.  I'm so excited!  Clothes shopping for little girls is the MOST FUN!  This girl will be spoiled by this auntie for sure!  So, welcome to the world, Ellie Kay Owen!  Travis and Mary-Jane love you bunches!

Breakfast Aisles at the Grocery Store

Yesterday I had to hit the grocery store in the morning before school so that I could get treats for a kid to pass out since it was his last day.  Ironically, it was Headlock Kid, for those of you that read my facebook posts.  Anyway, I was sad thinking about how much I was going to miss this kid, and how sad it is that some kids live such transient lives.

Then it hit me.

I turned down the cereal aisle and all my thoughts came to a screeching halt as they arrived at only one thought, It smells good here.  I need food.  Never had I realized how the blending of coffee, hot chocolate, cereal bars, cereal cereal, and granola everything could twist and swirl together into this amazing cloud of yummy smelliness.

It was intense.

It was delicious.

It was effective.

I definitely plunked down my quarters and dimes and dollars so that I might recreate a snippet of the best smelling (and of course the brightest colored) items in that aisle.  Oh, and I got HK some treats to pass out too.

Yesterday's High: Breakfast Aisle
Yesterday's Low: Goodbye, Headlock Kid.

It doesn't taste good and it's not brightly colored.

Yeah, I was gone for a while.  I didn't think you'd miss me and you didn't.  The world kept turning.  I'm not insulted.  I'm that kind of person too.

Anyway, I wanted to write a post because my old lady brain is already starting to spark and sputter and I feel like within a couple years I'm going to be drawing a pension and I'll have my picture in one of those medical journals for being, quite possibly, the youngest person to ever have such advanced memory loss.  Alzheimer's?  Maybe.  I think it's mostly because I don't like to spend time "reflecting" on my life.  I would rather live in the moment than think about what I've already done.  

And, plus, I'm just a simple-minded dummy.  

I choose the brightly colored objects.  

I gravitate toward food and away from crying children.   

I buy anything endorsed by a cartoon character. 

And I pass through life eating, laughing, learning, loving, hugging, teaching, jumping, crying, and sometimes sleeping.  But reflecting?  Nah.  It doesn't taste good and it's not brightly colored.

Travis brought to my attention an event that we attended last year around this time.  As he was talking about it I thought, Wow, that sounds super fun!  I don't remember that at all.  It scared me that I'd participated in an activity that was fun and quite possibly shaped my life in some tiny way, and I never would have remembered it had my husband not mentioned it.  Okay, honestly, it was about watching a Chiefs game at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It probably didn't actually change my life, but it scared me nonetheless because what if, in a few years, Travis brings up the day we got married and I can't remember anything about it because I didn't reflect on it and spend time thinking about how that day would/will/has shaped my life!?!  I know that's extreme but I also know I'm
just.
               that.
                                simple-minded.  

So, I've been thinking about what to do.  They say to keep your mind fresh you should play "smart people" games.  I play and lose enough of those with the Bearded Guy, so I'll go ahead and say Thanks, I'm set in that area.  Then I thought I'd keep a diary.  Riiiiight.  Go ahead, I'll give you time to get out of the chair and go count how many "journals" you own.  Done counting yet?  Chances are, if you're like me (although for your sake, I hope you're not!) that you've got a few.  I can't keep a journal!  I can't focus enough to completely write a check, let alone record and ruminate upon all the thoughts that swim in and out of my head each day!  Travis said something about how I should "listen more."  Gotcha Travis.  I know that's just a ploy to get me to learn your Chemistry junk.  No way.  I have to listen enough to eight year-olds tell about the "one time Uncle Jake let me ride the, the, the, well, he's not my uncle but he's my cousin, and he let me, I think he's my dad's friend, actually, anyway, he let me, he has a puppy and he let me ride his four wheeler, it's actually a lawn mower, but I really like his puppy!"  Have you ever tried listening to an 8 year-old tell a story?  Try it some time.  Ask 'em how their weekend was.  THEN tell ME I need to LISTEN more!  Ahem.  So, I thought Hey, why not fire up the old blog?  Get 'er runnin' again real smooth.  Apparently I think in a farmer voice.  So, in a never-ending effort of self-improvement, I would like to work on reflecting upon my life by updating my blog.  I've got a pretty great life and a pretty poor memory, so it can't hurt much!

I wrote my first blog idea on my hand this morning so I wouldn't forget it.  Seriously.  Old lady brain.  I wrote "BFAST" on my hand since I wanted to write about something pertaining to breakfast.  Of course, later on in the day, I looked at my hand and wondered what it was I had to "be fast" about.  That's how bad it is, people!  So, hopefully my next post will have the keyword breakfast in it somewhere and it won't be a post about how I need to somehow be fast at something.

If I do write about being fast, someone please come over here and help mama fill out her pension forms.  Quickly.

The Book of Awesome

Recently, I began following a blog called 1000awesomethings.com. I read about it on another blog: cakewrecks.com. I recommend both of these amazing nooks in cyberspace. CakeWrecks will make you giggle your eyeballs out and 1000 Awesome Things will add a few minutes of refreshment to your busy, irritating day. It's like a glass of cold lemonade Dr. Pepper on a hot summer day. I now currently have both the book versions of these blogs. One was a gift to me and one is a gift for someone else.

I think I'm going to start my own list of awesome things. I'm already a pretty positive person but I think it's mentally healthy to find those minute parts of your life that bring you small joys. Generally these are so small that you don't even think about them as being joyful, you just feel better after the tiny instance has happened. So, here goes:

#1 Waking up to sun streaming in your bedroom window

Forget about that dream where you're being chased by werewolves, and lay aside the thoughts about all the things you have to do today because right now there is an explosion of light coming through the windows so intense that you can actually see the sunbeams mixing with the tiny floating pieces of dust hovering over your bed. The walls used to be white but now they appear to be glowing in the luminescence. Sure, there's an oil spill off our coast and Gary Coleman just died yesterday, but right now, all I can think of are God's amazing blessings. Solar power is

AWESOME!