A FACEBOOK MOM

I thought I'd better fire off a new post lest you think I've fallen off the blogging wagon again. I've actually had a few brewing around in my head but between the demands of my ever growing laundry pile, back to school mayhem and trying to watch every Olympic event, I have yet to put pen to paper, so to speak...

Despite my busy life, and foot long to-do list, I have squeezed some time into my schedule to become a Facebook mom. I resisted for quite some time, thinking it inappropriate for someone my age (this of course was fueled by my daughter's insistence that it was not an activity for elderly people--like me!) She was wrong! I have found gobs of friends and family members on there, many of whom are older than me. It is really quite enjoyable, and I've reconnected with a lot of people I had lost touch with. Both my teenage children have agreed to be Facebook friends with me as well, so I guess they must not be too embarrassed!

I have two favorite Facebook applications... I love flair! For those of

you who are not Facebook savvy, these are little buttons with funny
sayings that you can send to people. These are two of my personal favorites.

My other favorite...this instant messaging thing. Apparently people have been doing this for a number of years, but it's new to me and I LOVE IT! It's way better than texting because I can type way faster than I can text. Of course, the person you want to chat with must be on Facebook as well, and that's hit or miss, but I have had some lovely chats with old friends. My one fear is that I will become "that person." You know, that person who when everyone else sees they're online, they quickly dash away before they can be cornered. We've all met them, but nobody wants to be them!

Moral of the story: If you don't have a Facebook page, go get yourself one, and remember to request me as your friend. I promise not to stalk you!

GAINFULLY EMPLOYED!

This past year I entered the job force again. I will admit it was a humbling experience applying for jobs and realizing I might have to take something I felt completely overqualified and way too smart for. I don’t think I’m really a first impression kind of gal. I think you need to get to know me to love me. It might be the way my voice changes into a 4-year-old's voice the minute I walk into a job interview, or possibly the fact that I begin shrugging my shoulders uncontrollably with each sentence I utter. Then again, it just might be the annoying laugh that bubbles forth at everything the interviewer says. I don’t normally suffer from these undesirable ticks in my everyday life, just when I’m trying hard to make a good first impression. Brittany says it's my Walmart wardrobe, but I disagree. I feel certain that just shouts 'thrifty and resourceful!

Despite the trauma of my job search, I was eventually able to land a good job, with good benefits, which I quite enjoy to boot. I work for the county Prosecutor’s office in the child support division. Basically, I spend my days attempting to squeeze money out of dead-beat parents in a variety of ways. I could make it sound more glamorous if I tried, but it's not, nevertheless, it’s more than moderately satisfying. In our quest to better serve the needy children of Warrick County, our office recently attended the Indiana Child Support Conference. I learned many things, one of which is that, as a whole, child support workers are a rather dowdy and somewhat cranky group. This of course does not include the festive foursome who partook a bit too freely at the open bar and ran up and down the lobby halls laughing and screaming until security escorted them back to their rooms. Fortunately it was only about 9:30pm, so it didn’t wake me up, it just disturbed my pre-bedtime nap a little bit. They ran us at a pretty grueling pace… seminars starting at 9:15am running straight through to 3:30pm, with only a 2-1/2 hour break to dash out for lunch. Whew! I was exhausted let me tell you. The highlight of the conference was discovering there was a Trader Joe's pretty close to the hotel, which enabled me to spend the gift card I had been carrying in my wallet for the past year.

All in all, I am quite satisfied with my job. Unlike my short stint in the mail room of a large corporate office, which made me want to stab myself in the temple with a fork, I like what I'm doing, genuinely enjoy the people I work with, and feel pleasantly valued and appreciated. I don't believe you can ask for too much more than that in a job.

A funny thing happened to Jeff a few weeks ago...

Due to budget constraints, we celebrated our 20th anniversary very economically. We spent the day at Barnes & Noble, reading and drinking Starbuck's goodness! It was thoroughly delightful, and there was nary a child to complain about how boring bookstores are. The only blight on the day was the loss of Jeff's cell phone. We searched high and low, even asking several patrons if we could dig through the chairs they were sitting in, but alas, the errant phone was never found. Fortunately David's best friend, Joseph Lin kindly provided Jeff with a phone he was no longer using. It would be impossible to describe the unique friendship that David and Joseph share, but let's just say that they share a mutual love and fascination for flatulence. Oddly enough, they get a kick out of their cell phone rings for each other that replicate the noises one might make...okay I'm having a very difficult time talking around this, their cell phone rings for each other are a series of loud, obnoxious farting noises.

So... shortly after Jeff started using Joseph's phone (and before he had changed any of Joseph's old settings) he made a trip to our bank. He was at the teller window, innocently making a deposit when David called for a ride home, causing the cell phone in Jeff's front pants pocket to begin loudly "ringing." The teller discretely pretended she didn't notice while Jeff frantically fumbled around trying to turn it off, but I'm betting that she had something to say about it after he left.

Jeff changed the settings on his phone later that day, and has been avoiding the bank for awhile.

A BIRTHDAY BROUHAHA!

I had another opportunity this past weekend to really cherish one of the family pets... It was on Mother's Day no less, just an extra special little gift for me. The culprit was Calli, normally our least troublesome beast. Mother's Day also happened to be Reece's 20th birthday this year, so I was busy frosting cupcakes. Each of my kid's celebrated their 5th birthday with cupcakes made to resemble herself or himself (or as we like to say here in Indiana, "hisself) and for some unfathomable (unfathomable in hindsight that is, I'm sure it made perfect sense at some point) I decided Reece needed to have "little Reece" cupcakes for his birthday. Traditionally I used colored coconut for the hair, but due to his coconut aversion I painstakingly shaved Hershey bars with a vegetable peeler to produce a nice mound of brunette locks. About 2 hours into the project I finally began the decorating process. I was sitting at the kitchen table and had a cookie sheet full of cupcakes on the kitchen chair next to me, which seemed logical and handy as well. Just as I was picking up steam and the M&M's and chocolate were flying, I heard David sternly reprimanding Calli for stealing a cupcake. How she did this without anyone noticing, I do not know, but unbeknownst to us, she's a fairly stealth creature. I quickly picked up the tray to get it out of harm's way only to notice that not just one cupcake had gone missing, but 11. Furthermore, their was evidence in the form of 10 partially chewed up cupcake wrappers behind the recliner in the family room. Yes, this was accomplished in a matter of probably less than 10 minutes. I was incredulous and appalled at the incredibly piggish behavior of a beloved member of my family, a creature I lovingly feed and care for (okay, not really, I pretty much leave that to others, but I do buy the dog food and remind people to brush and feed her!)

Suffice it to say, the offender was banned to the out of doors for the next 48 hours, perchance the red velvet cake were to make an appearance in an altered form! I'm pleased to tell you that in the end everything came out okay (no pun intended) and both beast and birthday boy survived!

AFTER A BRIEF HIATUS...

I was reading Andy’s blog yesterday and the Indiana Update link caught my eye. On a whim I hopped over there and started reading through some of my old musings. I had already forgotten a lot of the things I’d blogged about and it inspired me to get my rusty brain and fingers going again. With a memory like mine, it might just be the only way I’ll remember my life!

The past 9 months or so have been difficult times for our family. There have been some big changes. Jeff has changed careers, I have joined the work force again, Brittany left for college (I use the word ‘left’ loosely, since she’s home every weekend, nonetheless I miss her a great deal Monday morning thru Friday evening!) David started driving, and we discovered that Christian will need enough dental work to put the orthodontist's children through college, just to name a few. It has been an emotional roller coaster for all of us, but I must say, I have discovered I am a much more resilient person than I believed myself to be.

Being that I’ve been on the shelf for awhile I thought I’d ease back into this with a few updates on previous posts...

Date: March 16, 2006 - "My Husband Turned 40..."

I believe I referred to Jeff as old in that blog. I will turn 40 in just a few months, and have changed my opinion. It's not really old at all. I must confess however that David made a comment recently about Jeff and me being middle-aged, and the real bummer was that he wasn't being purposely insulting, he really thinks we are!

Date: September 14, 2006 - "My 4th Grade Casanova!"

To date, Christian is still single, and is still easily nauseated by thoughts of romance. He is obsessed with the WWE. He currently aspires to be a professional wrestler and is busy honing a few moves. Several stuffed animals have suffered life-ending injuries at his hands.

Date: October 16, 2006 - "Our Pets!"

We have added to our menagerie. Calli and Lucy have been joined by Indy and Peyton. While they technically belong to Brittany and Reece, they are not allowed in the dorm and thus reside in our home. I am no more of an animal lover now than I was then, I'm just too tired to care! And they do have their cute moments.

Date: November 26, 2006 - "Leadfoot Gets Busted!"

Brittany (aka “Leadfoot”) never did make it into that speeding ticket deferral program. Her first offense was followed three weeks later by a second speeding offense, which was then followed by a third offense 10 months later. She has officially received the most print in the Spencer County Herald. David is now driving, and while he has remained on the good side of the law, he did sideswipe Reece’s Trans-Am, removing a stripe of paint off both cars.

Well, I am off to clean my carpets. Three dogs and a cat take their toll, and my mother-in-law arrives this coming week. To add to the pressure, Jeff's brother John and his wife Kim are visiting as well, for the first time. Kim's daughter once commented to her, "Why can't you just be like Aunt Jody and not care how the house looks!" I am still attempting to discredit her...

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS!

I realize it is already January 3, so I'm just a couple of days late for my fresh start, but better late than never...

For 2007 I resolve to:

1) Spend more time in God's Word. I have struggled with this lately and seem to find so many other things that need my attention. I will begin teaching the high school girl's in Sunday school next week and am grateful for the accountability this requires of me to really be in the Word every day.

2) Lose weight of course! This is a tradition for me going on about 32 years now! I'm pretty sure I didn't realize I was overweight until I was 5 or 6! I'm not sure what I'd do if I ever actually lost weight and didn't need to resolve to do so anymore!

3) Blog more! I got off to a rather good beginning I believe, but have fallen off the pace. I of course am a champion compared to my husband, but that's not saying much.

4) Have at least one family dinner a week. I saw a commercial on TV just yesterday that offered the sentiment "Memories are made at the family table!" While I believe this can be quite true, I thought it a rather ironic place to hear it. With two high schoolers now and Jeff's schedule, it seems we are not all home at the same time very often.

5) Keep the socks in my home organized! I believe laundry is the bane of my life, socks in particular. A few years ago I instituted the "sock rules" in our home. It was a rather complicated list of about 10 instructions for wear and care of the family socks. They, of course, lasted about a week before everyone was back to their sloppy sock usage ways. I have kept to two of the rules, first and most importantly, mom will not (and I repeat, will not!) stick her hand in any dirty sock to turn it right-side out, this is the sole responsibility of the wearer. Secondly, tattered socks go immediately in the garbage, lone socks go immediately in the garbage! They are given a short grace period to find their match, but I show little mercy on this! I find socks everywhere, and it drives me insane! Does anyone else have this problem?

I'm sure I might be forgetting some very important things that I should be pledging to make right, but for now, this list should keep me busy! Hopefully at this time next year I will present to you a godlier, thinner, more frequent blogger with her socks in order and dinner on the table!

LEADFOOT GETS BUSTED!

I have been telling my daughter repeatedly that her leadfoot is going to get her in trouble. Specifically it has now reaped her a nice $150 bill from the spencer county treasurer. I operated a motor vehicle for 19 years before I received my first and only speeding ticket. It took Brittany 15 months to achieve the same. Being her first offense, she will be able to have the ticket deferred, which means that should she manage to go lightly on the gas pedal for the next six months, there will be no record of this little event.

The incident took place on the interstate about 10 miles from home as Brittany and her boyfriend Stanley were heading home from Wendy's. You know we live in a pretty small place when the police officer greeted her at the window with a, "You're going a little fast there Brittany!" Frankly, I am a little surprised that she wasn't able to escape with a warning, being a cute, blue-eyed blonde, able to produce tears on demand, but apparently she was off her game just a bit. I must say that Stanley enjoyed it a good deal, seeing the girl he erroneously perceives as a 'perfect angel' getting her chops busted a bit. He came in the house waving the ticket with a pretty cheeky smile, while she sheepishly hid behind him. We are anxiously awaiting her write-up in the Spencer County Leader, where of course all law offender's receive due note of their deeds! We will make sure to save a copy for those who would like one.

I must apologize for my recent blogging hiatus. I think I've had writer's block or something. I mean, my life seems interesting enough to me, certainly never dull, but somehow I just haven't been able to capture it in words. Truth be told, I was kind of waiting until I could get an 18 on the internet putt, putt game so I could crow a bit and issue forth a challenge, all the while knowing that no one could ever beat me. But alas, my brother-in-law trumped me and robbed the fuel from my fire! Thank goodness one of my children has once again inspired me...