among the grey-haired

Sunday morning Dust, NJ, my Mom and Dad and I went to a church service of sorts in Branson, MO. It was held at the IMAX theatre in a smaller theatre. The songs/sermonette was done by a Baptist family turned pentecostal -is how they describe themselves. My parents have attended there before and mentioned that they usually only have about 20 people there. When we opened the theatre door, we saw a sea of grey-haired people. Several tour buses had unloaded. There were four seats left beside the door and we grabbed them. NJ did well for about 3o minutes. I kept him busy with a sippy cup of milk and graham crackers. The music was loud so it didn't matter if he got fussy. You were supposed to yell where your tour bus was from as they went around the auditorium. Everyone was from Oklahoma it seemed.

The logic behind going here was that we could take NJ out easily enough if he got cranky. I didn't want to send NJ to a strange church nursery. Mom and I took NJ out to run around the IMAX lobby. We walked around the gift shops also.

After church, we ate at a family type restaurant attached to the IMAX. I did feel out of place there also. Mainly grey-haired.

the winner

This weekend I determined that Dust could win any contest he entered. He won first place for his Halloween costume contest at work. And on Saturday, we won the "mocktail " contest at the elevate party.

The church provided a bunch of ingredients and let us make our own smoothies to enter into the contest. Dust was the brain behind our masterpiece. We kept it simple: ice cream, ice, blackberries, blueberries, raspberry flavoring, ginger ale, and milk. (if I remember correctly) When we taste tested it, I told Dust it was too bland. So we punched it up a little and put it in the blender again. We served it with whipped cream and a blueberry on top. Dust named it "Blue Brew" It was going to be "Dust's Blue Brew" but then the judges would know who made it.

There were four judges doing the taste testing. They spent a long time making their decision. They had a score sheet and I'm not too sure what all the categories were. I was shocked when they read our number and "Blue Brew" as the first place winner. I thought we would get beat out by the oreo and mint drink.

Dust is awesome. He was a good project manager. It kinda felt like a task on the Apprentice. I am going to enter Dust into everything now!

Chuck

Dust and I have been watching the tv show "Chuck" on Monday nights. I was hoping it would help me with my "Alias" withdrawal. It seems to be more of a comedy than a drama about the CIA. The show is about Chuck who has the government's secrets stored in his brain. He fixes computers/electronics for "The Nerd Herd" at the Buy More store. The CIA and the NSA watch him 24/7. It is a little bit cheesy, but I like it. I think the character development was done well. Our good friend Marshall from "Alias" was on "Chuck" last night. It was good to see him again. He was a bad guy this time though.

I hope this show makes it another season. It is a good Monday night show.

"you have gas"

We put in an order at Home Depot for a new water heater. Yesterday, I answered the phone call to set up the install appt. I assumed it was just going to be a call to set up a time for someone to come out. It ended up being a call with a lot of questions that I didn't know the answer to. When someone asks me questions really fast over the phone, for some reason I blurt out an answer back whether it's correct or not. The lady asked, "Do you have gas, blah, blah, electric." I answered electric. The lady on the phone had me go down to the breaker box and get some sort of info from it. I told her that I didn't see the breaker that had the water heater label by the side of it. I then said maybe we didn't have electric. She asked me, "Are there pipes coming from the top of the water heater. Yes. "You have gas," the lady said.

I felt like such an idiot. She then had to change the info. on her computer which took some time. She apologized for the delay. I told her it was my fault for telling you we had electric in the first place. I know absolutely nothing when it comes to basic household knowledge. I am from the traditional mindset of the 1950's that that's the man's job and I don't need to know it. I definitely need to come into the present century. I need to care about whether or not our water heater runs on gas. Or that we have copper plumbing. Dust is going to go over some basic crap with me sometime. I hope that I care enough to retain the info. I don't want to look like an idiot anymore.

nature center

Last Saturday, Dust, NJ and I went to the Ernie Miller Nature Center in Olathe. I am always looking for a new place to take NJ for a walk. It was small but nice. I was used to the Springfield, MO Nature Center which is quite large.

The one thing that was interesting was that there was a birthday party going on. That was a new concept for me---birthday parties at a nature center. There were people dressed up along the pathway in costumes portraying nursery rhymes/stories. When we passed Johnny Appleseed, I thought he looked familiar. And I was right. We ran into his wife coming out of the nature center. We will have to tease him about being Johnny Appleseed.

Is a birthday party at a nature center a geeky thing to do? Maybe for a pre-schooler it would be cool. Who knows, NJ might have one there some day.

frugal

I have been analyzing my purchasing behavior. I realized that I am kinda wishy washy when it comes to spending. Sometimes I am very frugal and other times I make excessive purchases. I make the stupidest mistakes financially sometimes and sometimes I am extremely cheap.

We got professional photos taken at Target for the holidays. I was talked into buying the Christmas cards-(4x7). I probably should have taken a picture at home and gone through Wal-Mart.com for the Christmas cards. Wal-Mart is around 12 cents a picture, i think. Oh, well.

NJ has some clothes that are too small for him. I had him wear these around the house. Maybe I am being too cheap and should go out and get him some more shirts/pants at Target. I tend to make bad decisions on clothing for myself. I have clothes that don't look right on me but I didn't try to return them to the store either. I usually end up realizing that the clothes aren't right for me after I have washed and worn them.

Dust has mentioned that my philosophy on grocery shopping is buying only what I need for the week. (Just in Time inventory) It is probably just me being cheap. I used to only put $5 of gas in my car at a time. Is that being cheap? Since I've been married to Dust, I always fill my tank to full. Mostly for the convenience. I was able to get by with only putting $5 at a time in my car during college because Dust drove me around.

I wish I could find a balance. I don't want to be too cheap but I don't want to make foolish excessive purchases either.

fam time

Miss Carisma visited us this past weekend. We were able to squeeze some fam time in around Dust's studying. Dust took Monday and Tuesday off work to study and have fun with little sis.

Yesterday, we went to the Overland Park Arborteum/Botanical gardens. The landscaping was excellent! I liked the mini-waterfall and the streams that bordered the paved walkway. We did go on some walking trails. NJ had a bumpy ride in his stroller when we got off the asphalt and went into the woods. He was sleeping so maybe the ride kept him asleep. It was nice to get some sun and exercise.

Miss Carisma and I rented a movie on Monday while Dust was studying. The movie was called, "Mozart and the Whale." It was a romantic comedy about two people with Asperger's syndrome. I liked it.

outside

It is so much fun playing with NJ outside. He loves to run all around our backyard. The smile and excitement on his face is so awesome. I sat him on the limb of a tree in our yard and he thought that was so cool. Experiencing things like sitting in a tree for the first time is so neat to watch.

The one thing that bothers NJ about the backyard is the fence. He is drawn to it and starts shaking it. He doesn't seem to like the limitation. Sometimes NJ acts like a free spirit that doesn't want to be fenced in and sometimes he can't cling to me hard enough.

There is something about being outside that is nourishing to both mother and child. The sun perks me up. I especially love it when the humidity is low. We are gettting into some nice fall weather that is baby friendly!

stir crazy

Yesterday morning I was a bit stir crazy. I decided that NJ and I needed to get out of the house. I knew that Toys R US didn't open until 10 am. So, I thought I would see if there was a park nearby. I stopped by the public pool nearby because I thought there was a playground there. No, I was wrong. Just a basketball court. So, NJ and I waited in the Toys R US parking lot with the other moms and their kids anxiously waiting for the store to open. NJ got so excited when he saw the Diego toys and books. I ended up buying a Diego book because he didn't want to put it down. I was going to buy him some more toys anyway. I don't have that many age appropriate books for him. He is bending the pages on most of his books that are too old for him right now. I also bought him a beaded maze block. It is a wooden box with a wire beaded maze on top. He played with it all afternoon yesterday. He loves it!

I am going to have to find something to do to get out of the house more often. We have MOPS on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays. I enjoyed the meeting and am looking forward to the next one. I am thinking about taking NJ to the Deanna Rose Farmstead next week. They had a good playground for toddlers.

I always thought I was a homebody. Until I am home all the time.

pics of NJ

The top pic is NJ after his haircut. The middle pic is NJ before his haircut at Bass Pro. The bottom pic is NJ right after his haircut from Dust.

Dust, the barber

Dust gave NJ his first official haircut on Saturday. We recently purchased an electric hair trimming set--what barbers use. I was not familiar with how to use the different size combs on the trimmer, so Dust was the barber. NJ was a very good patient. He sat still on my lap as the buzzing trimmers went over his scalp. I know that I wouldn't have been able to swipe my little boy's beautiful hair away. NJ had some really long bangs! There were some long pieces in the pile on the floor after the haircut.

My little NJ looks very clean cut now. It wasn't a buzz cut--there is some length to it. He did, however, lose the golden glow that his hair once had. His hair seems duller to me now. But he is still my cute little boy! I will post some pictures in a later post.

Labor Day weekend

Dust, NJ and I went to visit my family in southern MO. We had a really great time. On Saturday, we all went to "The Landing". It's similar to "Legends" in KC. My brother's girlfriend also came with us. It was our first time meeting her-she's really nice. We had dinner at Garfield's. Dash, we didn't have the steak-a-lada this time. But we all had steak besides my brother's girlfriend. She's a vegetarian.

On Sunday, we went to SDC. It was extremely crowded. We were hoping to make the church service at the Wilderness Church at 11 am. The traffic and crowds got us there too late. Dust mentioned that we rode the barn swing ride. It was pretty cool! NJ enjoyed watching us from below. Grams (my mom) said that his head followed the pendulum back and forth. It was southern gospel picnic weekend. We saw Dottie Rambo in concert. It was a blessing that NJ slept through the entire concert sitting with Gramps (my dad).

On Monday, we went to Bass Pro in Springfield. It was my Dad's birthday and he picked Hemingway's for lunch. NJ enjoyed watching the fish in the equariums. He wanted to run around the store--which was the bad thing. Overrall though NJ was pretty good all weekend! I really enjoyed being with my family and we had lots of fun!

walk across the room

In Sunday School class, we are going to read a book by Bill Hybels called, "Just a walk across the room." I just read a few pages of the book. The author tells a story of a Muslim man that was at a party. He was standing alone in the corner when a man noticed him and left his "circle of comfort". This man started a conversation with the Muslim man. The two ended up meeting for coffee and discussing their different religions. The Muslim man came to know Christ and it all began because a man decided to walk across the room.

Sometimes it can be scary to walk across the room to talk to someone. You would think because I am shy that it would be a hard thing for me to do. I can walk across the room and say hello but I don't have much more than that. Recently, I was in a social setting and I decided to walk across the room and say hello to someone. When I said hello, the person immediately left and said something about getting something to eat. This really hurt my feelings. It was quite obvious that I came over there to talk to this person. Am I really that awful to have to talk to? I was just trying to be nice because I know how lonely it can be to be standing alone. I hope that I am misinterpreting this whole scenerio. Maybe the person wanted to be alone or this person genuinely got hungry at that moment and decided to get something to eat. I am going to try to not let this event hinder me from walking across the room again.

"dream of doing nothing"

I like Peter Gibbon's response in the movie "Office Space" when asked what he would like to do if he had a million dollars. Absolutely nothing. The question is supposed to help you find your career job. Dust and I like to joke about our dream of doing nothing.

Dust and I also joke about a line we heard on a "Will & Grace" episode. "Oh, he thinks we do things. Does he know that we don't do things?" I am notorious for saying things that I want to do or am going to do but never do. Shock of all shocks..I am actually doing something.

This week I started painting the floor boards in our house white. They were originally wood color but the previous owners painted them white. With the toy bus and other toys banging into the wall, the paint has chipped really bad. I am actually doing something! I got off my butt and started painting! It already looks a lot better. Also, we actually ordered some new bathroom and bedroom doors for the house!

Even though I have a dream of doing nothing, it isn't as fulfilling as actually doing something. I am embarrassed when I think about how I could have improved our house years ago, but I decided to sit on my butt instead.

cartoons

Cartoons have sure changed since I was a kid. NJ and I watch Dora the Explorer every morning at 7:30 am. I think it's kinda creepy that Dora asks me a question and waits for my reply. "What part of the trip did you enjoy?" pause, stare, total silence for at least 15 seconds, then, "I liked that part, too." "Go, Deigo, Go" has the same format. I guess cartoons are trying to be more interactive. The characters ask, "Do you see the "fill in the blank" ? Where is it? They do seem to be more educational too. I think it's funny but also good that before a cartoon starts on the Noggin channel it tells me what my child will learn. Your child will learn problem solving skills on Dora and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills by watching "Little Bear" and "Oswald".

I am embarrassed to admit it but my life has become a series of cartoons. The Noggin channel is playing in my house all day long. One of my favorite cartoons is "The Backyardigans". I used to make fun of this cartoon before NJ was born! Speaking of Backyardigans, does anyone know what animal Uniqua is? A salamander or bug? She is pink, so I am assuming that she is a girl. Sometimes she talks with a boy voice though. She seems to be interested in boy things too. Maybe she's just a tomgirl?? It's like the "Pat" clip on SNL.

trip to the grocery store

This morning I decided to attempt to go to the grocery store with NJ. I figured that I need to get out of the house more during the weekdays so I don't feel so isolated. We both got ready and left about 9 am.

When we got there, I put him in the cart seat. He seemed ok for a few minutes. He stared at a little girl walking around with her mommy. He got scared and started grunting for mommy. He tried to grab on to me and looked at me with a desparate look. He has been in a clingy stage for awhile now. NJ started crying and I decided to get him out of the cart. If you have ever heard NJ cry, you know how loud he can get. I attempted to push the cart and hold him at the same time. I shifted NJ from hip to hip. I could push the cart straight with one hand only for a short distance. I thought he might be calmed down enough to put him back in the cart. Nope, he screamed again. We put on quite a show I am sure. I got a few stares. In some ways I am glad that he screamed when I put him in the cart seat because it validated my reasoning of holding him. I tried to buckle him in the cart seat about 4 to 5 times while I was shopping. I was going to buy a 12 pk of Pepsi. I can't hold him and pick up a 12 pk at the same time. Since he wouldn't stay in the seat, I put him down on the ground. NJ fell back and hit his head on the metal rack. I felt like a terrible mother at that point. I decided not to bother with the pop cans and continued down the aisle while trying to comfort NJ.

Apparantly, NJ dropped his pacifier around the meat section. I didn't realize it until a couple of aisles later. I hurried as fast as I could to the check-out lady. She said that it looked like I had my hands full. I explained the situation. I put NJ back in the cart seat so I could pay. He, of course, screamed again. The check-out lady said,"What a loud noise to come from a small baby". Before we went out the door, I put him in the seat and just let him cry. He seemed ok while I was putting the groceries in the trunk.

I have decided not to attempt to go to the grocery store alone with NJ again until he is out of this clingy stage.

clutter free

I have been on a mission to clutter free the house. I started cleaning out the storage space in the basement. We had thrown boxes and all kinds off stuff in there. It was time to organize! I have a pile of items to give away. I also have a pile of trash. We feel bad putting all of it out on trash day. We will save some to put out next week. Mostly big boxes that the baby car seats came in.

My next step is to buy some plastic containers to put stuff in. There is NJ's baby stuff that needs to be stored away nicely. I am struggling a little bit on how to organize the house. Our methods so far haven't worked. Our main problem is that we are pack rats. We also tend to let things pile up and not deal with items immediately. I would be open to any advice.

I love watching the tv show "Clean House". The team tries to de-clutter the house and find things to sell at a yard sale for money to redesign the rooms. I would love for someone to come to my house and give me some new designed rooms with storage containers!

Dust is 28 today!

Happy 28th Birthday Dust!!! We are going to see the new Simpsons movie tonight. I feel good about the sitter that is watching NJ tonight.

I told Dust the other day that I wish I was just turning 28. I will be the big 30 next year.

Have a wonderful day! We love you!

walking fool

NJ has finally gotten the hang of walking! He had his first steps around June 21st when his grandparents were visiting. On July 6th, NJ decided that he was going to walk or else! He took a few steps and fell and got right back up! He spent a couple hours that night trying to walk around the house. We were proud of him for not giving up. NJ is a determined little boy when he sets his mind to doing something.

On our vacation, NJ improved his balance when walking! He really enjoyed walking around Grandma's living room. He had persistance there too! He even wanted to walk outside.

My back feels a lot better now that I'm not bending over to help NJ learn to walk! It has been great watching him walk around the house now that we've been back. My day has just gotten easier!

full-time stay at home mom

This has been my first week as a full-time stay at home mom. On NJ's birthday, we had a wonderful day playing at home. He has taken two naps a day all week! Even I took advantage of nap time and occasionally took a nap myself. NJ is so energetic that I definitely need to take naps to keep up with him.

I am living my dream right now. My ultimate long-term goal has always been to be a stay at home mom. I have a sense of fullfillment. Maybe I should make some more goals now. Raising NJ is a priority goal.

Some people say that I will get bored. I really don't think that I will.