Hands

I am trying to get a few pics for our Christmas card. Last night, we celebrated my kindergartener's sixth birthday at a restaurant (he wanted to eat seafood.) My hubby was at work out of town but I had my family with me. It was great that my daughters, one of my daughter's boyfriend and my brother (and nephew) all came! What do these two facts have in common? I figured that if I paid for my daughter's meals, the least they could do was placate me and put the silly hat on for me (for a picture, lol!) Well, I didn't get exactly what I wanted but I ended up with a few options. At one point, while my daughters were totally embarrassed at the thought of me even requesting such an idea, it was hilarious and we were all laughing. We hid in a corner while I took a quick picture (it's not often they're together at the same time and looking semi-good.) Afterwards, I also put on a silly hat thing and got a picture with my oldest daughter. I'm standing behind her and she grabs my hand and holds it. It makes me appreciate that we have a great relationship right now and that, at that moment, all was well. She's come a long way and has a ways to go but I love her very much. I love this picture. When I see it, we look ok...but it's the hands I love, our hands together.

Gotta love the internet...

I was eating lunch an hour ago at my favorite restaurant with my toddler (who loves baked potato soup there.) A woman came up to me and started talking and then I ealized she was a classmate of mine! Even though I hadn't seen her in many years, I knew her via her profile pic on Facebook. In talking, I realized that we had kids near the same age (the first two were only a year apart.) I told her that I didn't know she had kids around my kids' ages...and that back then, I had no other friends with kids and had been so lonely. For clarity, my oldest is 25 and I got pregnant right out of high school two months after I got married....sigh. All my friends then were in college or working and certainly not having kids, much less married. I felt alone and didn't have anybody to share experiences or stories with. She only keeps in touch with one person from high school (and I was similar that I only had one bff from school too.) We laughed as we now keep in touch with others via the internet. I wish I had known then...

When I had my kindergartener, I joined an online mom's group (which eventually became private) and have become close to many of them (even meeting some in real life.) Last summer, I drove two states away to meet a couple moms who were going to the zoo for the day. I made it a mini-vacation and stopped along the way to do some ancestry footwork for some of my hubby's ancestors.

Beforehand, I updated my 'tree' on ancestry.com so that I could figure out exactly which ones came from the area I was going to visit. I was able to locate the cemetary where a few were buried (similar to my own experience finding my own great grandfather in Feb 2009.) I called and the place sent me the map and whereabouts of the burial places. I found the gravestones of my hubby's great grandfather and great great grandmother who died in 1891. While looking at my printouts, I noticed a wrong date in my information online on my tree and totally forgot about it. That is, until this week.

I got a message about the date from someone else working on their tree (which coincided with mine.) They are from Norway. We've exchanged a little information and I emailed some of the pics I took from the cemetary trip last summer. I think it's so cool that other countries don't seem so far away and that I'm not as lonely as I used to be....with the internet.

Here's a picture of the site where three of my hubby's ancestors are buried. It was a good trip.

List of random observations

I read this from one of my online mommy friends and laughed out loud at many of them. Thought I'd post it because they seemed hilarious (and I love any good reason to smile or laugh.)

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my 10-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions, people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey* but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

What?!?!?!

My kindergartener wanted to know what we'd be doing that day when I picked him up from school. When we got home, he suggested we go to the 'prk.' He is learning to put sounds together to form words. Since he was so close, I said, YES! We went to the nearby park. I was near the end of having read my third book in the trilogy (from Stieg Larrson) and I thought it'd be cool if the kiddos could play while I read the last pages.

We arrived at the park and I went to sit under this pavilion in a spot where I could read and watch the kids. I noticed a couple older teenagers on a bench across from me when I was getting comfortable. A page or two later, one of the teens said, politely, "Excuse me." I looked around and noticed they were filling up their cigar with something and it clicked as he continued talking to me. "I just was letting you know I was doing this." I considered this for a second as I quickly responded. I'm sure they couldn't see the shirt I was wearing as an emblem on it was the state of Texas and a big star (it was from the Texas Probation Association) from which I was a member all those years working for the Probation Department. I said that I...didn't care (I really did)...but that if my kids came around...could they please move. It really wasn't a question or request. I then returned to reading, or rather trying to read.

I considered the situation while looking at the pages not being able to read for a few minutes afterwards. On one hand, the teen was very polite and considerate (not something I see every day especially in my neck of the woods.)I guess he was giving me the opportunity to move if I didn't want to be near them when they smoked (or the smoke.) On the other hand, hello?!?, they're illegally smoking marijuana (and possibly something else) in the park during the day. I wanted to give them a lecture right then and there about a whole bunch of things including their health concerns while smoking, being a role model, drug testing/job applications options, getting a ticket/being arrested for committing a crime...you name it, it all went through my head in just a few seconds. But I go to that park frequently and lived nearby, I didn't want to have any backlashes in my attempt at morality to strangers. I was ambivalent. As it turned out, I stayed there and realized a few minutes later that they moved. Apparently, they decided against it, or they chose to move elsewhere to 'do their thing.' And my kids luckily never came around during any of this...

Halloween

I was at the grocery store yesterday morning. I was buying some chicken to grill and a few extra stuff I needed. I noticed a few older guys shopping together as well because one was wearing overalls and a kind of cowboy hat and I thought my kindergartener would have like to have seen him, lol! Near the checkout, they were behind me and as I was putting my things in the basket, one of them asked what I was doing later (as in making conversation about Halloween.) I mentioned that the plan was to grill some chicken and to catch up on tv...and for some reason unknown to me, I mentioned how much I loved dvr (being able to tape programs to watch later when I have more time) and how paying that extra $10 a month has made my life so much better. I could tell he had been drinking alcohol, although not drunk, but I guess to get up and moving that day. They were all kinda rough looking, not scruffy, per se, but as if they have a hard life...the kind where you put in manual labor each day, if they were lucky. He said, "Wouldn't it be nice if that's all it took." I responded, definitely. Then as I walked away, I thought to myself that I felt extremely blessed and fortunate. I have a really good life and I'm happy. I wish that little money was all it took to make everybody in the world happy.

We enjoyed trick-or-treating! My youngest has a slow speed...the kind where he stops and listens to the noises, looks at the stars or the pumpkins, or talks about the decorations in the yards. Definitely not on a mission to get lots of candy but to just take in the whole experience. We were able to split up so that I could just walk around with him slowly as he enjoyed the evening.