Tuesday, March 31, 2009

What did you say?

I hope you enjoy this weeks Misheard Lyric:)


Wrong Lyric: "We got to insult microwave ovens"
Right Lyric: "We got to install microwave ovens"
Song/Artist: "Money for Nothin" - Dire Straits

Monday, March 30, 2009

Time to Make-A-Wish

I have to say that my week has started off in a wonderful way. I received a phone call today from the Make-A-Wish Foundation advising they need a volunteer to assist with a child's wish.

This is my first experience as a Wish Granting volunteer. The good news is we work in teams of 2 and I will be working with an experienced volunteer.

At this point I have not received many details and it may be another 2-3 weeks before the wish granting process is underway however I couldn't be more excited.

I have more time then money as many of us do these days and while money is important to help make things happen, without the donated time from volunteers, it is much more difficult to make these wonderful experiences happen for the children and their families.

So with the support of my wonderful family who understands and is passionate about this like I am, I have all the support I need to give the time necessary to ensure the child and their family have the greatest experience possible.

I will keep everyone updated with the progress so please stay tuned.


"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake." - Henry David Thoreau

Friday, March 27, 2009

The Invisible Mother

I received this email from my aunt who has provided wonderful conversation and insight to motherhood. Her experience with 4 girls (including one set of twins) has proven probably more then she even realizes to be very helpful as I am still pretty new to this mommy business.

Here is to Aunt "K" for all her love and support and to all the Invisible Mothers out there, I hope this is just what you need:)


************************************************************************************

The Invisible Mother......

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way
one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or
even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands,
nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? & Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock
to ask, 'What time is it?'; I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number
is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England .
Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and
on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at
the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel
sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me
with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe ..
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building
when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I
could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their
names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God
saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird
on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you
spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by
the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God
sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte . I see the
sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of
kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is
too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great
cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.. But it is not a disease
that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one
of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to
work on something that their name will never be on.

When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend
she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in
the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for
three hours and presses all the linens for the table..' That would mean I'd
built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come
home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add,
'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing
it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not
only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the
world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Jo b, MOM!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Bye Bye Sirius

A couple of years ago my husband gave me Sirius Satellite Radio with a 3 year subscription. Well it has ran out and with no notice I was charged for another 3 years...more $$$$ then I wanted to pay.

When I called their customer service department refunded me the money and gave me free service until I could decide what plan I did want to go with. We figured we really don't need to spend the money and they were giving it to us for free so we would listen until the service was turned off.

Well after about 4 months of free service they turned it off yesterday. Husband listens to the comedy channel in his car since he has my old car and I listen on the computer while I am working. We are now back to listening to music the old fashioned way....with commercials :(

The good news is when I lived in Ohio they had a rock station that I loved. I couldn't find anything like it when I lived in Atlanta and now FL. So thanks to the wonderful world of technology and me being to cheap to pay for satellite radio any longer I am now back to listening to my OH music and just as happy....maybe even more since it is FREE!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

What did you say?

You may or may not know, I am a huge fan of music...all kinds.

One of the things I really love about music is when someone truly misunderstands the lyrics to the song or is totally clueless.

Today I would like to attempt a weekly post to share these misheard lyrics with you so you can laugh with me. You may even have a few of your own to share!

Wrong Lyric: "If you like bean enchiladas"
Right Lyric: "If you like pina coladas"
Song/Artist: "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes

Enjoy!

Vacation is Over

So vacation is over now and my best girlfriend is on her way back to MI. I miss her already.

Vacation was great and we had a blast celebrating St. Patty's Day...at least that is what they tell me. I don't remember everything clearly after leaving the Irish Pub. Of course I do remember leading the entire pub in the Irish gig with the leprechaun. Anyone who knows me knows I would have done that even if we had not had anything to drink.

My hubby said by the time he walked into the pub the dancing was on and the crowd was talking about the girl dancing in the middle and how she must be Irish because she looked like she knew what she was doing. (Have I ever mentioned I think acting would be fun ?:)

Anyway....it is back to the grind but it's all good.

I am off to pick up little man from school and can't wait to see him. He is what gets me through the days. I just hope he had a good day today.

Peace Out Ya'll!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Hungry Hungry Hippo

Do you remember the game Hungry Hungry Hippo?

Well I was recently reminded of the game myself. As I was feeding "the boy" a snack of Kix cereal I accidental knocked over the box and the cereal spilled all over the kitchen floor.

If you are not familiar with Kix cereal it is a whole grain cereal shaped in little balls...kinda like little marbles.

As the cereal was rolling everyplace my two dogs decided they would help with the clean up. The two of them were scrambling to get as many pieces as they could as quickly as they could.

For a moment I was taken back to my childhood and reminded of how much fun we had playing Hungry Hungry Hippo. I just had to laugh out loud at that one.

Here's to remembering our childhood fun!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ok...so the once a week post idea isn't working out like I had hoped. I will continue to do my best to post as often as I can.

We are now preparing for vacation next week..woo hoo...and Easter. Last year my son was only 2 months old when Easter came around so there wasn't much we could do with him. This year will be different.

I am teaching my son to collect quarters in his piggy bank and to my surprise he is really good at it. He is better at saving then Mommy and Daddy (I am thinking he is going to be our bail out plan). For Easter I thought we could get some plastic eggs, put quarters in them and place them all over the yard for him to find. Of course he is only 14 months old so we can't hide them too well.

The Easter Bunny is going to bring "the boy" a nice basket without any sugar! Mommy likes that. It isn't that I don't want him to have sugar...after all he is a child but, I want him to make good choices, and again he is 14 months old....what good is candy...really? Wouldn't he be better off with things like picture flash cards, story books and coloring books. That is what he is getting.

"The Boy" loves books. The day care is amazed at how interested he is in them. More times then not he will choose a book over another toy. We read several books a day and I am totally addicted to buying them. Guess there are worse things I could be spending my money on then books for "The Boy". It isn't that bad is it?

I guess it is back to work for me.

Until next time:)
Mommy T