Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Where Do Your Pinterests Lie?


When a friend of mine showed me Pinterest at a football game, I have to admit I just didn't get it. Who would want to just go to a website to look at pictures? Isn't that what Google images is for? Need a hair style? Google hairstyles. I thought there was no way I would ever get caught up in something else online. I am far too busy with facebook and spider solitaire I have no interest in Pinterest.

However, at work the girls kept talking about all these ideas they got from Pinterest. Ideas? They have ideas there? What kind of ideas? So one of them sent me an invitation to join Pinterest. It is a very exclusive thing you know. I know maybe three people who aren't on it. You have to know all the right people to be involved with Pinterest. It's about as exclusive as Words With Friends.

I now have a Pinterest problem. I get on there looking at all sorts of things. You can look at what is popular, you can see what your friends are pinning. You can look at everything and everything by category. I have gotten recipes, preschool ideas, craft ideas, organizing ideas, and even outfit ideas. You can look at all sorts of things. Today I figured that if I have to be in two places at once on Saturday as I do, I should find out how to clone myself. Where does one go to learn how to do that? Why Pinterest of course! I have yet to find it yet but I have high hopes.

I figure if I can't find it on Pinterest surely I can find it on Google and if I can't find it there then iPod probably has an App for that. How to be in two places at once surely is a common problem. I do keep busy like the rest of the population. I am not the busiest nor the least busy. I have a family, I have a home to keep up, I have a job, I assistant coach basketball for my son's team, and I have a daughter who is a musician and is going to competition. I have friends who I like to spend time with, I also spend a bit of time writing. Not to mention all the shows I am behind on, on the DVR. A clone could come in handy.

If I were a Jetson this wouldn't be a problem as I would have a robot to help me. If I were a Brady I would have Alice. If I were at Hogwarts I could use the time turner. If I only had a Delorean time machine I could figure it all out. I am just sure of it. I suppose I should look for time management ideas. Maybe they will have that on Pinterest. Wherever your Pinterests lie you can probably find it on Pinterest or Google or an iPod App. Although surprisingly I couldn't find a Yahtzee game for my iPod touch, so there is that. I think for me my Pinterests lie in wasting as much time as possible to avoid doing what I don't want to. There is a pin that says something to the effect of “when I don't feel like folding the laundry I restart the dryer” uh yeah, that's me. Who doesn't want to look at a bunch of stuff they don't have, can't afford, and will never attempt and put it on boards? It's like a modern version of collecting pins or stamps or postcards. So I have to wonder... Where do your Pinterests lie?

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Eavesdropper


My oldest is an eavesdropper. It is almost impossible for me to have a telephone conversation without her interrupting. She seems to think that she needs to be included for whatever reason. My oldest is going to be sixteen. We are not talking about a six year old. She listens as she is doing her homework. She then gives her input to my conversations. I will tell the person I am speaking to what she says, then it becomes a game. A relay race if you will, of going back and forth between the person on the phone and the teenager in the room. Then she gets mad at me for repeating what she says. You would think that she would be the one least likely to want me to write about her. When in fact she gives me so much material, she feels like the star of every post. She loves it.

Teenagers. I read somewhere once something to the effect of, God gives us teenagers so we won't be so sad when they leave. I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I can totally relate as at times I wonder what life will be like when the girls are gone to college. My son is counting down till his eighth grade year. That is when they will both be in college and he will have the place and us to himself. I will admit that there are days when I count along side him. But mostly when I think about them leaving I feel sick. As though a piece of me will be gone and I will spend all my time trying to find it.

You know that feeling when you've lost something that is important to you? In college I had a small pin on my coat that had belonged to my great grandmother. It fell off of my coat and I looked everywhere for it. I finally found it in the street where it had been run over by a car. I was sick about it. Or the feeling that you are going to be late to pick up your kids from school and they will be waiting for you? I realize they have to grow up. I also realize that currently there are days with my teenagers that I understand why we have pharmacies and why God gave us chocolate. Raising teenagers is not for the fainthearted. My friend read a book that told her that if you don't make your kids mad at you at least once a day, you aren't doing your job. This made me feel a slight bit better as it's good to be an overachiever. At that I excel. I am fantastic at making my teenagers mad. It's a gift really.

The expectations I place on them are unreasonable really. At least in the society we are raising them in. The society that is more concerned with hurting the child's feelings over teaching them right from wrong. I expect my children to work hard at school. I expect good grades and that they do their own work. I expect them to pick up after themselves and to do their chores. I even pay them if they do them. If they do not, I keep the money for myself and have a nice cappuccino with a friend. I expect them to be respectful of each other, those around them, and of themselves. I expect them to use appropriate language. I expect them to dream and to plan for their futures. I expect them to not settle for less when they are capable of more.

I am still working on my expectations for myself. I think mostly I'm going to have to expect that when the time comes, I will let them go. I will let them spread their wings and fly off to wherever and whatever God has planned for them. But one thing I will do when I drop that oldest one off at college someday, warn the roommate to take her calls in private.


Monday, January 9, 2012

Being Human


It has occurred to me this week (not that it never did before) that I am human. I am so excited about this. I am not an alien from outer space, I'm not an dog or cat, I am also not a doormat, step stool, or pack mule. I am also not finished growing or learning and God has a lot left to do with me. What this means is the following:

  1. I make mistakes. So many I am incapable of keeping track of them all. I once drove to the wrong school for a parent teacher conference because I forgot which school my kid was in that year. I once hit the garage while pulling my car in. Just to name a few.
  2. I am not green. I have hazel eyes that have green in them but I am not green. So I do not envy you. I also do not want to take over your planet as I'm from here also.  Taking over an entire planet never works out either I know I saw a Disney movie about that once.
  3. I am not a dog or cat or other pet. I will not sit on your lap and lick your face and I will not follow you around and hang on your every word. Unless you have something interesting to say. I might lick your face if it's covered in chocolate and I'm married to you. Also if you are driving and I'm to follow you to get someplace I don't know how to get to, then I would follow you.
  4. I am not a doormat. You can not step on me. That would really hurt I think. I'm kind of lumpy too so you could trip and fall down. Plus, I'm a bit defiant I grew up to be a rebel so I know how to say no.
  5. I am not a step stool you cannot climb on me to get anywhere.
  6. I am not a pack mule but I do play one at home sometimes when I attempt to carry everything in the house at one time in order to avoid multiple trips. But I think that just makes me lazy. Lazy or a weight lifter who uses canned goods and produce as weights.
  7. I'm impulsive. Sometimes I go crazy and buy an extra pack of gum. I don't usually by Extra the brand but I buy Trident because it's my favorite.
  8. I do not know all of the light switches in my house. I had the house built I didn't build it myself, but sometimes I still flip the wrong one.
  9. I sing and dance when I mow the yard, but my neighbors already know that.
  10. My weight fluctuates because I either don't have will power to give up ice cream and other desserts forever or I'm lazy or I like to buy different clothes and have no real excuse unless I grow out of them or shrink out of them.
  11. I color my hair because I have gray hair. I also use different colors sometimes for different seasons.
  12. I choose the winner of all sports based on the color of their uniforms. Because A. I know very little about sports. And B. It amuses me especially if I choose correctly.
  13. I don't like to watch television unless I can watch it on DVR because I don't like commercials. I don't have the attention span.
  14. I love to read books but I don't enjoy text books. I believe I could have been quite brilliant in life if I could have learned everything to the tune of a song because those I remember.
  15. I enjoy writing. It's a given. It may be because I like to talk and writing is like talking only on paper and to more people. I am not a public speaker. I'm more of a one on one talker. Crowds make me nervous.
  16. I love dessert. In fact I once went out to eat with a friend and when the waiter came to ask if we wanted dessert I informed him that yes I did want dessert and I had only ordered the meal so I could have the dessert and not feel bad about it.
  17. I don't like peas or lima beans. Cooked. But I do like them cold and on my salad.
  18. I was once in gymnastics as a child. I quit when I fell off the balance beam. I still cannot do a cartwheel and I'm scared of heights.
  19. I like a little bit of coffee with my cream. I am not really a coffee drinker but I have a coffee maker and I drink coffee with so much cream in it, it's unrecognizable.
  20. I love the ocean but do not wish to swim in it. I do not like getting into water that I cannot see the bottom of so this excludes lakes and ponds also.
  21. I dislike the color orange but I like to eat oranges.
  22. I really enjoy the movie Sweet Home Alabama. I watch it every time I find it on T.V. Which is funny because normally I don't watch T.V. Unless it's on DVR and I own the movie but never put in the DVD. I think it's because I like Reese Witherspoon. I think I like her because she reminds me of a younger Meg Ryan.
  23. I have never had sushi, but I am the most experimental with food than most people in my family.
  24. My kids have to work if they want money. They do chores to earn money then are required to save up for the things they want and they have to sort their money so they have some for church and for savings.
  25. I give public service announcements to my friends with young children. I like to warn them that the teenage years are far harder than what they have with younger children. I feel like it's my duty to try and prepare them so they aren't taken off guard.

There are more things I could tell you about myself. But now I'm bored. The thing I am learning is that I have a sense of humor and some people do not have the same dry wit that I see in myself. Also I am becoming less and less concerned whether or not people like me. A lady I once knew, at first came across as not so nice. I couldn't quite get a read on her. I then spent an afternoon scrap-booking with her. She made a statement that I have found to be quite life changing. She said, “I don't know if people like me. I like me. I think I'm fun.” I immediately liked her after that. It was so thought provoking. Imagine! I guess it just struck me because I had never operated that way. As a child I was very concerned with being liked. As an adult I understand that not everyone is going to like you or agree with you. Just as I don't agree with some people. For example people who wear orange when it's not Halloween. I just don't get that. Or people who eat spinach cooked. It's so slimy, it tastes so much better in a salad. I am not sure there are people I really dislike. I try very hard to love everyone like Jesus. Some people are harder than others. That is reality. That is being human. I am human. But what would the world be like if everyone tried to be kind and worried less about whether people liked them and more about just loving people like Jesus?

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Excuses Excuses


Today I have a few minutes to kill before I start my running. OK I am not really going to be running, I don't have the proper shoes on my feet for running. What I mean to say is before I get in my car and drive around to all the places I need to go before I come home prepare dinner, come up with 5 excuses why I can't get on the treadmill and inadvertently waste the rest of my evening.

I thought I would share something about myself. In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep, through the valley of fields, through the river softly. I'm always looking for something. OK that's a Billy Joel song that popped in my head for some unknown reason. I don't really walk in my sleep. I have woken myself up with a snort before. But I don't think I snore. Also I don't dream. At least not that I remember. Unless you count the dream I had after Michael Jackson died and my children decided he was cool. I had a dream we were pals and he came over to visit and brought me his entire collection to give to my daughter as a gift. He may have moon walked while he was here too. Probably not because I just thought of that and it would have made the dream much more satisfying. Also I do have fields around my house but I don't have a river. There is a creek not far but I'm too scared to go down there. There could be a wildebeest or snake down there.

So I thought I would share with you the top 12 reasons why I won't Zumba with the rest of them. As I have stated before I am excellent at coming up with excuses. David Letterman does a top 10 list, I do a top 12. Maybe I'm more full of it than he is?

  1. This is a true statement: I am on the Dave Ramsey plan and I don't have an envelope for that. I do have a “blow” envelope but I like to use my “blow” envelope for very important things like lunch money if I run through my “food” envelope too quickly or for things like tissues and sales on shoes.
  2. I lost all my “moves” in the postnatal drip and am now prohibited by NASA to attempt to dance in public.
  3. I am a klutz and am quite afraid of turning the wrong way and causing a chain reaction of falling women.
  4. I like to sing when a song comes on that I like and if I'm moving and singing at the same time I could pass out from the exertion and I cannot afford the medical bills that could create. (Concussions can be costly and painful)
  5. When I sing in the privacy of my house, the cats either hide or beg to be let out of the house. My singing could cause others to have problems with their ears. I cannot afford your medical bills either.
  6. I now know three people who teach Zumba. How do you choose without hurting someone's feelings?
  7. I don't really like going with the crowd unless it's chow time. I like to do my own thing. I'm a rebel like that.
  8. I don't have the proper attire.
  9. I tend to lose papers or forget them so a punch card would not stay in my possession long.
  10. I hate to drive especially at night, so forget about it.
  11. I don't know the appropriate amount of time between eating and exercising. Is it like swimming do you wait 30 minutes?
  12. I would.... I just don't want to. Mostly because everyone is doing it.
So you see? I have several outstanding excuses NOT to do Zumba. Also I think I may have had a dream once where I passed out attempting it and got trampled by a bunch of sweaty ladies. I can't be sure though I rarely remember my dreams.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

What If... You Wouldn't Fail?


“What would you do today if you knew you wouldn't fail? Then go out and do that.” It's a quote from the new movie New Year's Eve. It's a fun movie if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing it yet. But the quote is what has stuck with me.

I am not quite sure why it has resonated so much with me. Perhaps it is because I haven't quite figured out what I would do. I think as we grow and evolve what we would do changes. I don't know that I grow and evolve every day but I do know that what I would do changes almost daily. But I'm not even sure that is the point that I have gathered from the quote.

You see, I never really knew what I wanted to do. I think a lot of people figure it out early. They just know what they are meant to do. They feel it. They are supposed to be a doctor or a nurse or even an artist. They cannot imagine life without doing that one thing that they love. An artist cannot imagine painting every day. A doctor cannot imagine NOT saving lives. It seems for me I've always been searching. Maybe I should be a realtor. Maybe I should be a jewelry designer with her own line. Maybe I could be a best selling author, I just need to remember my dreams then write a book about it. It worked for Stephenie Meyer. I have no idea how she was able to create an entire book series based on a dream she had. Mostly because she was and is married with children. When did she find the time? By the time all of my kids are in bed and I have a minute to myself, I have nothing left. I'm exhausted and ready to just stare blankly at the mindless drivel on the television and play spider solitaire. But then I have never really been very good with time management.

Mostly though it has struck me that the only thing that really holds us back from doing what we were meant to do is us. Our fear. Our lack of self confidence. Our lack of time management even. What do we do with our time when we could be pursuing our dreams? Philippians 4:13 says “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Do you understand what that means? You can do EVERYTHING. Who gives you strength? Well if you believe in God our Father and you cling to his promises then you know it is Him who gives you strength. If God who is BIG is giving you your strength you can do everything. I think the point here is not whether or not you would fail, I think it's in your definition of failure. God's definition isn't the same as ours. Truly I think the only way we can fail is if we don't try. This has been a very tough lesson for me to learn.

In my fear I have been unable to try many things. I have a lot of good excuses too. If you could make a living at coming up with excuses why you could not do something I could be very successful in that field. I get an email from Women of Faith every day. In my email today from them was a story about a 16 year old girl who attempted to sail around the world. The last paragraph in the email said this “I will definitely attempt to sail around the world again. In fact, I can't wait for the chance to try again. I might succeed and I might not. A lot of times the things that are most worth doing involve risk, and I'm living proof that not everything works out the way you planned. But I have learned an important truth: In stepping out and trying to achieve great things, the only way I can truly fail is never to try at all.” Abby Sunderland. She is 16 years old and she gets it. The only way we can truly fail is to not try at all.

What are you afraid of? What would you do today if you knew you wouldn't or couldn't fail? Well for me I think you need to adjust your definition of failure. Maybe I will write, maybe I'll do something else that God calls me to do. But whatever it is, I won't fail if I attempt it. The only failure would be to not do it at all.