I am Proud

I set my facebook status today to "I am proud." Someone asked me, "of (what)?" And I knew I had my blog topic for today.

There is so much to be proud of today. First and most importantly, I'm so proud to be an American today. I can't remember the last time I said that, which is sad, but I'm saying it now. Every patriotic song is swirling in my head. For the record, Obama wasn't my first choice - I was/am a big fan of Hillary Clinton. But once her destiny was made clear, I leaned toward Obama (McCain's selection of extreme-right-winger Palin clinched my vote).

I am proud that our voters were able to either see beyond color or embrace color as part of needed change. I am proud that those who have felt disadvantaged in life-- regardless of their color, gender or ethnic background--now have a leader to inspire them by example to be the change they want to see in the world. I am proud that we have a leader that has motivated crowds of all ages and backgrounds to join the political process again or for the first time. I am proud that so many of us were willing to take a chance on an individual with big dreams and amazing eloquence.

I am proud that I was able to share this moment in time with my husband, children, family, friends and community members regardless of their party affiliations. I am proud that my kids were so excited to participate in "Kids Voting" and that Derek was even happier that Obama won than when the Phillies won the World Series. I am proud that Derek doesn't recognize the significance of the first African American President (it never occurred to him that race would be a stumbling block).

It's a day to be proud - for all of us. Even if you wanted the other guy, it seems difficult to dismiss the importance of this day and the barriers it breaks in the minds of so many.

I am proud.

Halloween

Ahhh...Halloween. You gotta love a holiday that makes cake and cookies look healthy by comparison.

This year, I had my usual battle with Derek to try to convince him to be something not bloody and oozing. Guess that's part of my lot in life with a house full of boys. I finally put my money where my mouth was and bought him a pricey Jango Fett costume just to avoid the $13 bloody face guy. But, hey... how can you put a price on winning the battle of the costumes?

Nathan was a doctor - not because he wanted to be a doctor, but because the costume came with fun toys. Later he changed his mind, but I told him he could pick a different costume next year. Score two for mom!

Finally, little Trevor was a tough-guy hockey player. Derek wore this same "costume" (really just a Flyers jersey) at Trevor's age, but had a real black eye to go along with it. Trevor sported his eyebrow scar, but you couldn't see it. We managed to get Derek's hockey helmet on Trevor, which covered his entire head and neck. He loved it and wore it the whole time trick or treating - until he discovered he couldn't eat chocolate with a full face mask. Priorities, you know!

Halloween is one of those times I feel just a *tiny* bit jealous of the moms of girls. The boys costumes just aren't that fun and the older they get, the worse they get. I loved seeing all the little girls in their sparkles and foofy dresses. Guess with a house of boys handing down their costumes to each other, there's more money in the budget for my Cinderella costume ; ).

On Being Grateful for Gifts

During a Sunday sermon, something our minister said broke through my internal running to-do list and sleepy no-caffeine-yet fog. It wasn't something new, but for some reason it happened to resonate with me. "Be grateful for the gifts you've been given." Of course - it's not a lightbulb moment, more like a "duh" moment (yes, I know next week's sermon will be "give us more of what you're grateful for," but we'll worry about that later). But, I took it to heart and spent the day trying to be grateful instead of complaining. It didn't work so well when I tried it on someone else...

Rob: This traffic is terrible. We are wasting our Sunday sitting here burning up gas.
Me: But, think of the time we have here together to talk, freed from the stress of being glued to the TV all day watching football. You have two good legs with which to drive, two good eyes to see the road and the means to afford a car!
Rob: We are wasting our Sunday afternoon sitting in traffic and I'm missing the games.

So, I can't fix everyone. But, I did spend the day trying to see the glass as being half-full and taking time to appreciate our home, that Rob has a job, that we have three mostly good and healthy kids and that Rob and I are healthy and mostly fit and happy. It's a refreshing way to view things and I will try to add a little more gratefulness to my life...so right now I'm grateful for a two year old who can speak his mind and is tearing me away from the computer.

I Love Carbs

To the tune of Sesame Street's Oscar's "I Love Trash" song: Oh, I love carbs...anything cereal or pastry or bready; anything sugary or sweet or oven-ready; oh, I love, I love, I love carbs! *sigh* Yes, I do love carbs and I especially realize it now because I'm trying to cut them out of my diet little by little. I'm hoping it will help squelch some of the sweet cravings, but for now, I'm just dreaming of having a big fat bowl of cereal for breakfast instead of an egg - blech!

The 80s Called...They want their pants back!

I got a flyer from Limited Express recently. That I know it as "Limited Express" and not just "Express" shows my age because I remember when they were just getting started. In fact, some friends and I helped them open their location in Lancaster when we were in high school. My friend stayed on to work, but I went elsewhere (can't remember where for the life of me!).

In any case... clearly they never heard of the saying "if you were old enough to wear it the first time, you're too old to wear it the second time around." There were many old-school fashions in the Express flyer, but this one in particular made me laugh.


I think they should have fine-tuned their mailing and removed anyone over 35 - and everyone over 100 pounds. I'm certainly no fashion maven, but these pants are just screaming for the "what was I thinking?" list of the future. Also, the large horizontal-striped shirts - I know I had a couple of those in my closet in Jr. High. The only thing I can't figure out is where are all the bangles and multiple earrings in one ear hole? The lace in the hair and fingerless lacy gloves? What about the big, roller-coaster bangs and foofy permed hair? Guess that would be taking the retro look a bit too far? But, at least a little purple eyeshadow past the eyebrows...give me *something* to hold on to!

Had I found these pants before my "seriously" post, they would have made the list ; )

Rolos...Meet thy Destiny!

Today was a day like any other...struggling to get through the grocery store with Trevor and trying to remember everything I need and not come home with a bunch of stuff I don't need. Reaching the checkout seems like the end of the battle, but it's still a huge hurdle to overcome. The trick is to load everything on the conveyor belt without having Trevor transplanting it back into the cart or on the floor AND while keeping him safely seated in his cart and his mitts off the candy next to him. It's really a cruel joke to believe that this endeavor could end successfully and I consider myself fortunate if we get through the mess with both Trevor and eggs in tact.

As I had my back turned for about 15 seconds today, it was enough time for Trevor to grab a pack of Rolos, strip off the top of the package, and jam two into his mouth. So, the rest of the Rolos had to come home with us. And I wonder why I can't rid the house of junk food! : ) His defense: "Good Chocolate!" I concur.

Twitter Jaiku Pownce Facebook- And Then What?

I admit it...I found the title to this blog on a "blog topics" blog :) and had no idea what it meant - except the facebook part. So, I had to go look all of it up. Boy, do I feel old and out of touch. I like to consider myself someone who is interested in and fascinated by technology, but the electronic times have changed quickly.

I knew about Facebook. Though it's been around for awhile, I recently took the plunge and joined in and have been having a blast connecting with both old and new friends. Feeling behind on my writing skills, I thought it would be fun to start this blog. But, that's about where my electronic connections end.

I know there are people who still don't "do" email (I just can't get that), so I'm a bit ahead of the curve for my age, but I have to wonder, will my kids connect with their friends strictly through the web? How many different types of social networking sites will exist for them and how will they find time to keep up with all of them? Will they constantly have their noses in their laptops or their phones?

From an interpersonal communication standpoint, how will the changing evolution of online communication affect their social lives and the way they learn to deal with people? When I was a teenager, I spent hours on the phone with my girlfriends - and the occasional patient boyfriend who would tolerate my endless jabbering. Do teenagers still do that, or are they too busy updating their status and uploading photoshopped pictures of themselves? If they are still talking to each other, what about my kids? Will they still talk, or will it all move online? Will I have to post on facebook: "Karla is thinking it's time for everyone to come to dinner" in order to get them to a meal on time? It will be interesting to see how these sites affect my kids and whether I can stay a step ahead of them - or at least keep up. I hope to be able to guide them to talk with each other as real people - not onine personas.

Hmmmm... I'm sensing some great PhD fodder here... maybe it's time to go back to school! : )

"Seriously?"

I find myself saying "seriously?" a lot lately - maybe because Grey's Anatomy is getting ready to restart, but so many things seem to deserve it. In a grocery store quest for tempting health food, I discovered Fiber One Toaster Pastries... seriously? Do we really need to fiberize our Pop Tarts? Can't I just eat a chocolate cream Pop Tart and know I've done irreperable harm to my body without counting the fiber grams? And one of these lovely goodies (which is sure to cause extreme gastric upset due to the not-so-naturally occuring added fiber) still has 190 calories... seriously? Of course, I bought them anyway - couldn't resist the chance to taste fiber-laden Pop Tarts! : ) They didn't have chocolate, though...I settled for the cinnamon.

We now have to pay $60 to volunteer at school. Seriously. For the weekly pleasure of yelling at someone else's kids, we pay $60. I should say other parents have to pay because Trevor is almost never welcome at the school, so my ability to volunteer is limited. "Regular" volunteers (and they are working on defining that term) have to go through the usual clearances ($10 each) + now have to be fingerprinted by the FBI to the tune of $40 (at the volunteers' expense). Parents were upset about schlepping half an hour to the fingerprinting office, so the district agreed to bring the fingerprinting bus to school for our convenience. I wish I was kidding.

And, finally...to get political for a moment. I found out that Sarah Palin thinks that women who have been raped should not have a right to an abortion. Seriously? I can't imagine how any woman can hold this belief. I understand that we might have discussions about women who use abortion as birth control or "partial birth" abortion or many other controversial abortion topics, but rape? Seriously.

Now we'll turn the "seriously" back to Grey's Anatomy - Thursday night at 9 p.m. EST - two hour premiere! : ) I'm counting the minutes!

Get Thee Behind Me, Junk Food!

Why do I eat so much junk food? Who needs this crap? I work my butt off at the gym and come home and have a brownie. Why I can't I pick up some carrots and think, "mmmm...this is what I've been craving all morning!" Who invented junk food? If it didn't exist I wouldn't have a problem - it's all someone else's fault :P

I had a day of reconciliation with the scale. I knew I'd been overdoing it a bit, but there's nothing quite like the cold hard facts staring you in the face to give you a reality check. Guess it's time to hop back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon or something. It's just more fun eating junk food all the time.

I need to get into some new jeans if I want to improve my wardrobe. Gotta suck it up and suck it in!

Turn this Place on its Ear!

I'm feeling the need to purge! Not that I personally need to toss my cookies (although that would possibly be better than digesting the brownie I ate for lunch), but I need to purge my house, my wardrobe, my makeup - just everything! Well, we'll keep the kids and the hubbie, but everything else needs to be sorted and purged.

I think I get this feeling every fall - but this year more than ever before. Trevor is two and it's time for the baby toys to go. So, for starters, I need to dump all the baskets of toys on the first floor and a good half of them need to find homes outside of this one. My office...can you say the birthplace and deathplace of all unfinished projects? I can hardly stand it. I miss having the time to scrapbook - and I LOVE that hobby - but will I EVER find books for two large Spacebags full of photos? I think not! Who will sort through all of those photos? Ugh...

Every room in this house has a similar story, but back to me...when did I lose my sense of style - or maybe I never had a sense of style? I think I did - maybe when I first started working or at some point during high school when I put on my first pair of acid-washed peg-rolled jeans with my purple and black-striped off-one-shoulder extra big shirt with chain-link belt (wait...didn't I just see that shirt at NY and Company this weekend?). But, when did my style become assorted colors of v-neck t-shirts paired with a variety of capris/jean shorts/jeans that are too long or too short? I have a good friend who shall remain nameless (you know who you are, Jen B.... oops!) . Now, she has style! I saw her Friday with some casual, but super cute capris with a design on the bottom - just schlepping the kids around for the day, but still oh-so stylish! I never look that good even when I get "dressed up" (capris without holes in them + collared shirt). Granted, she's a size negative 4 and looks awesome in whatever she wears, but still... thin people can look like crapola too, and she does not look like crapola. I need to purge the wardrobe too. Seriously - right now I'm wearing a polo with the seam coming out. Is that necessary? Shouldn't I be ashamed that my boys dress better than I do?