What decade are we in again? You mean it's not still the 90's???

My kids don't have school today so getting up at 6am was NOT on my radar this morning. But, at 6am, I got a call from Darling Hubby asking me to turn on the news and find out about road and weather conditions. You see although we knew there was a chance of a mix of precip for this morning, we were not expecting two inches of the wet stuff stuck to everything (roads included), no plows to have been through, and such heavy snow that visibility was next to nothing. It took him 20 minutes just to drive the three miles from our house to the interstate where he finally pulled over to call me.

When I received his call, I immediately turned on the news,and turned on my laptop in an attempt to try to see how long this bout of snow would last and if the more readily used roads were clear yet.

And since I was now awake, and since I don't go back to sleep very well anymore once I have been woken up, I decided to just go ahead and get up for the day. At 6am.

sigh

But you know what just occurred to me? A whole hour after he woke me up with his phone call?? From his cell phone??? Which is a Blackberry????

Instead of calling me he could  have simply looked up the very same information on his phone. Himself.  Without any involvement from me.

*facepalm*

I guess it's nice to be needed, right?

My two cents (for what it's worth)

I don't normally weigh in on blog posts that are part of the mommy debate. It's not worth the fight. I'd rather just keep my mouth shut, put my blinders on to what other people think, and simply do my mommy thing the best way I know how. But because I've seen a few different responses to this particular blog post today, and because I'm feeling rather bitchy (causing me to relish the fact the my kids are all in school because I don't even particularly want to be around me today), I've decided to throw my response out there as well.

Here it goes. Ready?

Stop judging. Just. Stop.

The end.

One Thought Wednesday (New Year's edition)

I don't make New Year's resolutions.  I quite honestly don't see the point. I just live my life. Some days slogging through the mud and some days singing gleefully (and horribly, but that doesn't stop me).

I suppose, though, if I were going to make any resolutions I would make resolutions that would have the best chance of successful achievement. I don't play games I don't think I'll win. And what is life, really, but one big game?

Carmen's 8 Sure-to-not-fail 2013 New Year's Resolutions

1) I resolve to read one or more books every month.

2) I resolve to talk to myself, out loud, every day.

3) I resolve to spill food on my shirt. (Oops. Check.)

4) I resolve to be a dork for the sole purpose of making my kids laugh.
(Example: Any one of my children: "Know what sucks?"
                                                  Me: "Vacuums."

5) I resolve to run into door frames at least once a week.

6) I resolve to read/write words so many times in a row (particularly while writing this blog) that they lose all meaning to the point that I actually have to look them up in in order to make sure that I am, in fact, using them correctly. (Example: resolve)

7) I resolve to make myself laugh. Often. (See resolutions 2 through 6)

8) I resolve to breathe in and out. Every. Single. Day.

See what I mean? Surefire success with those babies!

Let me leave you with this thought for the coming year: Remember to laugh. Life is much too serious to be taken seriously.

One Thought Wednesday

I have two favorite words at Christmas time.

No, they do not start with F and end with you. Hardee har har. You think you're soooo funny, don't you?

No, what I'm talking about is quality control.

"Huh? Wha? Are you flippin' nuts?" you ask.

Yes, but that's beside the point. Let me explain:

Today I was at my mom's helping her get started on her mongo Christmas baking marathon, and we decided to try out a new cookie recipe. First we had to try the dough before it was refrigerated for quality control purposes. It would be a disaster of epic proportions is someone was poisoned by one of our cookies. Or they weren't yummy.

Once the dough was chilled and sliced into cookies we were forced to do another test for quality control purposes. We had to make sure those delicious little cookies hadn't lost any of their minty/chocolate-y deliciousness during the 45 minutes they had been in the freezer. It was a risk we just couldn't take.

We each then had to try one of the finished products, again to ensure we were maintaining our high standards of quality control. We are an exacting people.

Christmas baking is serious shit, y'all. We have got to maintain the yumminess of all baked goods. At all costs. At all times. And if that means that I must volunteer myself as a "quality control specialist", then by god, I'll do it. I'll sacrifice myself in the name of baking. And Christmas. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. Who's with me?!?

One Thought Wednesday

I am severely box-deprived.

(I apologize. I had a much wittier start to this post, but when I sat down at my laptop my bookmarked pages beckoned me in all of their internet glory and allure and after perusing them for an amount of  time that I shall not divulge, I have now forgotten the oh-so-witty thing I was going to say about not having enough boxes. You're just going to have to trust me on this. And forgive me. Damn internet...)

I have, for years, been a box hoarder. Every Christmas I would put up all intact boxes to be reused. After every new pair of shoes, every new small appliance, every new package received from Amazon, I would fold in the flaps as needed, nest the boxes together and stack them in my mudroom. I had boxes all the way to the ceiling. And it was glorious. I was never in need of a box. Have an awkward-sized gift that needs wrapped? I had a box for that. Have a family gathering requiring a cake that needs to be carried carefully? I had a box for that.

Well last year after Christmas, and with a little pressure from my husband, we threw out all the boxes the gifts came in. I also cleaned out the mudroom and got rid of most that were still sitting there as well. sigh

And now we come to this year. I am boxless and bereft. I tried to wrap some presents earlier and this was the box sight that greeted me:

Yep. Your eyes are not deceiving you. That's it, folks. That is the extent of my boxes. And it's a downright shame, I tell  ya.

I needed to wrap something rather large, but the Staples box is far too big and all the shoeboxes are too small. So I actually went out and bought a box that was the right size. Gasp! 

Which, by the way, was the exact same reaction my husband had. We'll see if he ever pressures me to get rid of boxes again. Ha!

So this brings me to my thought for today: As God is my witness, I shall never go boxless again!

In which I nearly have a heart attack and subsequently lift the self-imposed embargo on all things Christmas because I like Christmas and dammit, Christmas likes me, too!

So. Last year I bought an inexpensive mp3 player to be used exclusively for my extensive Christmas music collection. You know, because it's just such a pain in the ass to put your Christmas music on and off your normal mp3 player each season. AMIRIGHT?

Anyway, last week I decided to get out said mp3 player. Not because I was going to start listening to Christmas music yet, oh no, but just so that I would have it ready for after Thanksgiving. You see prior to this year I always start in with the Christmas music right after Halloween, but then by the time Christmas gets here the magic has dwindled. So this year I had an epiphany. How about if I make myself wait to watch Christmas movies and listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving? You know, like a normal person.

But I wanted to make sure the player was charged up and ready to go so I could fire that baby up the minute Thanksgiving was over. So I looked in the place I thought I had put it last year at the end of the season. AND IT WASN'T THERE! *gasp*

Commence first signs of heart attack here.

So then I looked in the next logical place I could think of that it might have been. AND IT WASN'T THERE EITHER!! *gaspgasp*

Signs of heart attack getting stronger.

Then I looked in another place it might have been. And then another. And then another. AND IT WASN'T THERE OR THERE OR THERE!!! *gaspgaspgasp*

By this point, I was hyperventilating and in full heart attack mode. In a complete panic, I decided to look in the first place again since I was just sure that was where I had put it last year. And wouldn't you know, there it was - hiding. Little bastard.

After the panic and gasping and near heart attack I came to the conclusion that my embargo-on-all-things-Christmas-until-after-Thanksgiving could go screw itself.

Hello, Mannheim Steamroller. I've missed you...

One thought Wednesday

I have a bucket list of sky phenomenon that I would love to see and photograph someday. It includes things like the northern lights, a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse and various other celestial events that I didn't even know I wanted to see until they were actually happening. In the past couple of years I have been lucky enough to have been able to cross quite a few things off that list. Yesterday I was able to cross off one more thing - a sun halo. Sun halos are not what I would call rare, but they're not exactly commonplace either, and I had never seen one. Which is why I was sitting in the school parking lot waiting for my kids, looking up at the sun and grinning like a fool. 

But here's what I find really interesting. At exactly the same time that I was seeing a sun halo, parts of Australia were seeing a total solar eclipse. Literally, at the exact same time. I did math. No really, I did. The two events are completely unrelated, but the coincidence is just so freakin' cool that my mind is blown. 

Seriously, mind = blown. 

Which is also the story I will use when Darling Hubby wonders why I got nothing accomplished today. 

Sorry, Honey, my mind was blown by a coincidental celestial event. Don't expect dinner. 

One thought (well, Tuesday)

I exercised my right to vote this morning. With my younger son home sick today, it was the only exercise I got all day. Yuk yuk yuk.

After voting this morning, and mostly due to the current political climate, I spent the rest of the day thinking about my right to vote more than I have ever since voting in my first presidential election when I was nineteen. It dawned on me that my great-grandmothers were born without the right to vote. My great-grandmothers. I remember one of my great-grandmothers. My daughters know two of their great-grandmothers well. And so I will continue to be sure to teach my daughters about the women who fought for their right to have their voice heard. I will teach them to become informed voters, even if their vote does not agree with mine. I will teach them that their opinion matters and not to squander the right that did not exist just a few short generations ago.

One thought Wednesday

Smile. It makes people wonder what you're up to.



Especially if you add a maniacal laugh from time to time...

One thought Wednesday

I just want to shout out a big thank you to all the retail giants in the United States for saving me time and effort by combining every single thing I love about the end of the year. Who wants to have a long drawn out holiday season? Pffft. Overrated. Who wants to be able to savor the experience of perusing each individual holiday's decor, one holiday at a time? Not this girl!

Me personally? I love being able to shop for Halloween costumes, a turkey-shaped platter, and a Christmas tree all in the same trip - in October.

So. Happy Hallowanksgivingmas! Don't spend all your holiday cheer at once. Oh wait. Do.

*This thought brought to you by my trip to Wal-Mart this morning.