Sledding!

Buddy got a sled for Christmas, and has been begging me to find a time to use it! Well, since he goes to school all day and I work until 7pm, (plus he has just happened to be at his dad's the last 2 weekends in a row) we didn't get a chance to try it out until this week.

We went to my grandpa's house to sled in his backyard, since he has an awesome hill and I didn't feel like dealing with people at other public hills. (Plus, he's a fantastic cook and I was kind of hoping I could score a meal...)

Anyway, my friend Amber met us there and we had a good time breaking in the new sled!

Facewash!

Can you tell he was excited?

To date? Or...

You know how I have been refusing to date or even contemplate dating anyone for... years now? Because I thought it was important to figure out who I was and what I wanted from life before I tried to decide any of those things with another person?

I think it's time for me to stop refusing men. Not that I'm going to go out looking or anything, because I'm still not desperate for a man/relationship, and I'm still kinda anxious about adding another person to my equation since it's working pretty well currently.

But:

-I kinda wanted to cry about how much the Thenardier's were in love with each other during Les Mis. Which is totally pathetic, because they are evil.

-I feel jealous of my dad.

-I want to broaden my horizons and try new things

-I need to stop being so selfish

-I watched an episode of Parks and Rec where 2 ridiculous people got married, and it made me tear up

I honestly kinda wish I wasn't feeling like this. I really enjoyed feeling all "woman power" and like I didn't have any use for men, I enjoyed making good female friends and not worrying about dating or dealing with relationship drama...

But I am sort of regretting some choices I made with those men. And I'm sort of wanting to maybe date.

If you can't tell, I'm still really "sorta... maybe??" about this... IDK. I'm confused. Whatever. Basically I'm talking to one guy in particular and saying sorry for shooting him down over and over. But also... Again, IDK. I just have no clue what I want to happen next.

Motherly Failings

Lots of times I feel like this blog is a place for me to publicly brag about the good things I do as a mom. And that's fine, I certainly enjoy the "bucket-fillers" when people tell me how great I am :)

But, also, it's not that realistic. So, in the interest of truth, here is a short list of things I should do better at!

1) Sometimes I instruct Buddy to tell his teachers he did his reading homework, even though instead we read Roald Dahl/Dr. Seuss/Eric Carle.

2) I enjoy "Elf on the Shelf" not because of Buddy's joy at finding "Fuzzy" in a new place daily, but because of my sense of accomplishment that I didn't get caught moving him!

3) Sometimes when I'm late for work and haven't packed dinner, I steal quarters from Buddy's change jar so I can get vending machine food.

4) When my kid is being picky, I pack him "homemade lunchables" and gogurt. And refuse to feel guilty.

5) Cleaning the bathroom is worth $1, since I hate that job. Vacuuming, though more time consuming, is only worth $.50, because it's my favorite chore.

6) I use dessert as a bribe to force Buddy to eat new things for dinner.

7) Sometimes I let Buddy skip brushing his teeth at night, just because the fight is not worth it. I am begging for fillings.

None of these are the most horrible things in the world (I don't think, at least) but I definitely should work on these things! Do you have any small failings?

nails galore!

Tired

Has anyone had one of those nights where they went to bed WAYearly? Like for some reason fell asleep at 9:30 instead of 12:30? And then...

All of a sudden woken up at 1:45am, and tried to look at the clock but been super sleepy so somehow thought it said 6:45am, and gotten all upset that the alarm hadn't gone off...

And then taken a shower and got dressed for the day, then tried to decide whether to wake up the kid or not so checked the time...

And realized it was actually 1:45am. And was super annoyed. And tired. And then wrote a blog and posted it.

And then went back to bed.

Like this guy, who didn't wake up. Cuz he's smarter than me.

11 Things

I've been in a... mooood. Which is just a dramatic way of saying that the sun has gone away, and for some reason I was in denial that it was going to happen, so now I'm suddenly having to scramble to do all my winter-mood stuff so I'm capable of being a nice, cheerful, fun person. So, as a side effect, I have been having a really hard time staying motivated to write here, and coming up with things I think people might want to read. So... since I'm out of ideas, I'm going to do one of those question-thingy-deals in hopes that it might bring me out of my mood.

1. When was the last time you cried? And why?
     Wednesday night. I was having a serious talk about family and love and life and... well everything with my                  dad, and I always cry when I have a serious talk with him! To be fair, he usually cries too, and my grandpa cries whenever he feels any emotion strongly (happy, sad, angry, anxious, excited, etc) so it's basically a family trait. We cry easily.

2. What are your 5 favorite TV shows?
     Currently I love: Supernatural, Doctor Who, Bones, The Walking Dead, and Teen Mom. I know Teen Mom is trashy, but I just feel so connected with those girls and their struggles because of everything I went through... the TV show started right after I had Buddy and was going through a whole lot of stuff so I will watch it through till the end!

3. What is your greatest accomplishment?
     I think probably raising my son. Obviously there are things I wish I had done differently, but my kid is usually respectful, kind, cheerful, creative, smart, full of faith, and unbelievably loving and accepting. Those are all amazing traits that I like to think I had a hand in nurturing!

4. Morning person? Or night owl?
     Night owl. For sure. Which doesn't work that well with my lifestyle! Generally, I get to sleep around 2am and wake up at about 6:30am. Then I'm tired and crabby ALL DAY until it hits about 6pm, at which time I'm all of a sudden AWAKE!!!! and ready to be productive until 2am again.

5. How much cash do you have on you?
     $6. I'm not a cash person.

6. Household chore you hate the most?
     Dishes. It's disgusting to have to stick your hands into old food. Yuck. Conversely, my favorite chore is vacuuming. Although I now live in an apartment with all wood flooring, so I never vacuum anymore!

7. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?
   Currently, Hmong. Since I work primarily with Hmong students, and whenever they want to say something inappropriate or tell a secret or be mean they switch to Hmong so I don't understand them!
 
8. List 5 songs you know every word to:
     Lonesome Road by James Taylor, Wannabe by the Spice Girls, every song from the musical Rent, Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin, and Gravedigger by Dave Matthews Band.

9. Who was your first crush on?
     Haha! Dan Archiquette. He was in my class from 2nd through 6th grade, so when I started liking boys he was an obvious first choice. I grew out of it by Junior High, haven't seen him since high school, and haven't thought about him in years either. I wonder what he's up to these days?

10. What are three things you cannot live without?
     Food, water, shelter. Obviously. But as a less literal answer, my son, my cell phone, and my daddy.

11. Name one thing you wish you did better.
     Had confidence in myself and my abilities. I think it would really help me to be able to interact more comfortably with people if I didn't so often feel like everything I do and say is the "wrong thing".

Is there anything you are just dying to know about me? Leave me a comment with the question, and I will do my best to answer it :)

Give Thanks

No words necessary.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!