Silent Sunday

UPDATED: Why My Husband and I Shouldn't Do Yard Work Together

UPDATED:

On Monday, Robert and I did a little work in the yard, the following is a conversation we had about said work.

Robert (yelling at me over the leaf blower and lawn mower from the roof): Can you move the cars down the driveway? I don't want to splatter them. 

Me (also yelling over the mower and leaf blower, but not on the roof): Ok. Did you see I made a crop circle in the yard for you? 

Robert (pauses, looks back at yard smiles and nods his head)

We then went back to our respective duties.

Later:

Robert (looking at the mess he made by blowing nasty, mostly rotten leaves out of the gutter all over my nicely mowed lawn): I think next time we need to work from the top down.

Me: Ya think? Speaking of bottoms, did you see I also put a "Map of Tasmania" in the yard by the crop circle?

Robert: Um, no.  

So the moral of the story? Uh, yeah I don't really know that there is one. But you should totally click the link.

Unless you're at work.

UPDATE:
Best comment all day comes from my friend Tim on twitter:

Tim Beeler ‏ @Tim_Beeler

 

@WriteMindWriter So what you're saying is anyone looking for your place on google earth gets a show?

Juicy Beef: A Conversation I Actually Had With My Husband Today

Robert and I were in the car this afternoon, and a commercial for a show I've been looking forward to seeing came on. The following conversation was the result of that commercial.

Me: Oh, this is the show I was telling you about, GCB. It looks like it'll be pretty good.

Robert: What? "Juicy Beef"? Uh, I don't think I need to see that.

Me: "Juicy Beef"? Really? No, G-C-B. Remember, "Good Christian Bitches"?

Robert: Ok, because Juicy Beef does not sound like a show I would enjoy. That sounds like a show you can watch in one room while I'm watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in another room. Far, far away from the Juicy Beef show.

Me: Juicy Beef. It's what's for dinner.

Robert: *contorted grossed out face*

Me: I'm so blogging this. 

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Good News and Bad News

I can't be the only person who dislikes the phrase "I have good news, and I have bad news." Because really, the good news is so often overshadowed by the bad news. It's not like "Hey, the bad news is we didn't win $1,000 in the lottery, the good news is we won $1,000,000." No, it's more like, "Well, the good news is we don't have to take your kidney out, but the bad news is we do have to take your liver."

That's the type of good news/bad news I got today. Not for me personally, but for my husband.

He had been having pains when he ate for a while now, and after getting very sick about three weeks ago, he finally went to the doctor. They had some concerns about his gallbladder, so they did some blood work, which lead them to wanting an ultrasound because of elevated levels of something that I can't remember (though I think it dealt with his liver).

The appointment was made, and in the mean time, he started having extreme stabbing pains in his abdomen. The nurse's suggestions for a solution were less than helpful for relieving the pain, and while waiting to hear back about the ultrasound, R did a little online diagnosing (something I do not recommend), and came to the conclusion that he possibly had a gallstone.

The ultrasound results came back that his gallbladder was ok, and (I'm guessing here since he didn't specifically say) there was no gallstone -- good news. However, his liver is enlarged, and that's why he's having the pain -- bad news.

So, my husband who loves bacon, sausage, 70/30 ground beef, frying things in bacon fat, tenderloins, and all things unhealthy is now on a low fat/no fat diet. He has to eat chicken (skinless), he has to eat fish once a week (not battered and fried either), and he has to eat vegetarian once a week (no I can't fry his tofu in bacon grease). He also has to drastically increase his fruit and vegetable intake, and canned doesn't count.

The part that I'm ashamed of: I'm glad he has to do this. I don't like bacon, I prefer 93/7 beef, I like chicken and fish. I don't cook them as often as I would like because I get grumblings from him when I buy those things at the store. Also, I think this is the perfect time to switch to ground turkey in place of beef.

Now, here's where you all come in. I need some help with recipes. I need easy, fast, tasty and inexpensive low/no fat, fish, vegetarian, turkey, and chicken recipes. If you know some good reliable sites, please put a link in the comments. If you have a personal favorite, put it in the comments. If you just want to laugh Nelson Style (HA-ha) at the Iowa farm boy who has to go lean, please, put it in the comments.

#Momfail

On Twitter, thousands of moms find themselves on #momfail every day. Whether they put themselves there, or someone else put them there is irrelevant. Today, I found myself joining the long line of failed moms.

In my last post I talked about how stressed I was, and how it just didn't seem like I had enough time in the day.

This morning, the most important of all the balls I've been juggling lately hit the ground.

I was in such a rush to get to the school to decorate a room for a bunch of strangers that I actually drove off without my older daughter.

I thought she was in the car already. She was talking to me in her usual constant stream of chatter. telling me all the things that go through her 6 year old mind. I saw her throw her back pack in the car as I clicked her sister's car seat into it's base. I could have sworn I heard her door shut just after I shut mine. So I put the car in gear and started down the drive way.

I was not ready for what happened next.

Mid-sentence, possibly even mid word, she started screaming, "Mom, MOM! MAMA!! WAIT, MAMA, WAIT!"

I turned around and realized that I had pulled away before she got in the car.

The door was hanging open, and she was standing at the top of the driveway crying hysterically. Tears were running down her face, and she was sobbing in great heaving, hiccupy sobs.

I felt sick.

Did I run over her foot?

I motioned for her to come get in the car, and she ran full tilt down the driveway.

She got in the car and through her sobs asked, "Why did you leave me?"

I apologized, and asked her if she was hurt. She said no, and I apologized some more. I waited while she closed the door and got her buckles hooked and apologized some more. All the way to school I held her hand and apologized. I walked her up to her classroom (something I haven'd done for almost a year because she's a big kid now) and apologized some more. I hugged and kissed her several times in the hallway, and helped her get into her classroom.

I still felt sick, but worse than that, I felt like I let her down.

When she was born, I stayed home with her for two years. Then finances required me to go back to work, and I hated it. I felt stressed and rushed with her all the time, and I missed out on a lot of firsts because of the hours I worked. I remember thinking to myself that this is not how it's supposed to be, and that if I ever had another baby I wouldn't let it be like this.

Fast-forward four years, and here I am with a new baby. I don't have a time clock to punch, but I'm still stressed and rushed to the point that I drove off without one of my children.

I vaguely remember the days when I could focus my full attention on just one thought, task or idea. Now if I'm not doing at least two things at once, I feel like I'm letting someone down. While folding laundry, I was composing this blog post in my head. Now, I'm breastfeeding while I type, and monitoring homework progress.

After the incident this morning, I took a step back and looked at what my life had become. I rush from commitment to commitment, hurrying my children along so I don't let others (often strangers) down.

My life had become a juggling act.

Crituque group
PTA
Fundraisers
Staff Appreciation Week
Dance classes
Laundry
House keeping
Book club
Play dates
Mother's groups
Parenting groups
Support groups
School activities
Knitting
Various random promises to The Angry Midget
Birthday parties
Baby showers
Doctor appointments
An endless list of errands and chores...

All things I enjoy. Well, at least I used to...

It suddenly became very clear to me that with all this juggling, I was simply touching everything briefly, often not even long enough to enjoy it.

I wasn't really holding anything at all, and somewhere in that mix was my family.

Soon, some of those balls will go back in the basket. I'll have to think long and hard about whether or not I'll get them back out again when the time comes. Other's I can let slip down to my pocket for a while. Maybe I'll get them back out, maybe I'll put them in a basket. Then there are the ones that never go away. The ones I have to keep to make sure life is comfortable, like grocery shopping and laundry. But the three that are out of the rotation for good are my family.

I'm not going to juggle them anymore.

They will be held.

Just as they should be.

Together, and close to my heart.