Adjust your cup and get back in the game

I'm thinking of embroidering this on a pillow.

My in-laws are visiting, and the other night we were enjoying some old home movies Seth's mom has been transferring to her computer. There was one of Seth's tee ball game from millions of years ago. We all sat around and laughed our heads off because of the frequent "cup adjusting" that was going on.

"Those things are weird!" he tried to defend. "And uncomfortable!"

We laughed all the harder. There were several "cup" jokes.

We also laughed when a runner slid into home base and took one of Seth's legs (he was the catcher) out from under him till he was nearly doing the splits. Overly dramatic child Seth spent a few moments blowing out big breaths of air and "cup adjusting."

The next day, Seth texted me to pray for him because he was having a bad attitude at work. Things weren't working, schedules weren't being kept. And he was annoyed.

Before I even thought about it, I texted back "Adjust your cup and get back in the game."

He lol'ed.

I love making him lol.

So it's become a bit of a mantra around here now. It goes through my head when Thing One starts whining. Or when Thing Two knocks over a glass of milk (intentionally). Or when the big smelly dog whines at me to go outside THREE SECONDS after I lay down in my bed at night. Or when I'm babysitting my niece and she gets into my makeup bag and draws on her legs with eyeliner and takes a swig from my foundation bottle. When things don't work. When plans go awry. When my life is in a general state of yuck.

Rather than be melodramatic or full of whining and complaining or short tempered (like I'm tempted to be), it reminds me to just take a deep breath and "adjust". Move on. Keep my head in the game.

It ain't the end of the world.

10 Random Things

1. One month till school starts. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Sometimes I'm enthusiastic. Sometimes I'm filled with dread. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed. Sometimes I'm hungry. So I've been gathering materials, books, supplies and lesson plans. And participating in frequent snack therapy. First grade, here we come.

2. I've been ignoring my writing habit because I'm consumed with my photography habit. Taking, editing and posting pictures on flickr tickles me so. At the expense of my blog. Poor blog.

3. I have lots of strawberries in the fridge. I just imagined dipping them in Nutella. Oh my.

4. I've been asked to construct a tent. Because that's what bunkbeds were designed for.

5. Speaking of bunkbeds, my sister and I used to pretend ours were apartments. And boats. And mountains. And diving boards. (I don't recommend that last one.)

6. There was a baby shower for a friend last night. A baby girl. I oohed and ahhed at the cute little dresses and outfits with everyone else, but what really got my womb in a tither were the nursing supplies and the diaper disposal system. Maybe it's because, after having two boys, my womb has no emotional ties to tiny frilly dresses, but seeing a product with the name "Lansinoh" on it triggers a rush of maternal hormones.

7. Can I say "womb" in a blog? I suppose it's better than the word that originally popped into my head. You male readers should be glad I edit. I edit a lot.

8. When Thing Two talks, it sorta sounds like English is his second language.

9. Here's a random picture for your viewing enjoyment of my theatrical and ESL second son pondering the fate of his days ago injured toe:

10. Yes, I'm aware that he has no pants on in this photo. That's just how things are around here some days.

Apparently minivans are for dorks

Seriously, I had no idea.

From the time I was a small child, my family had minivans. And we loaded them up with our stuff and schlepped across the country in them. I have spent countless hours of my life looking out the window of a minivan and watching countryside go by. I've seen mountains and prairies and cities and three legged deer (thanks to our minivan) from the inside of a minivan.

So naturally, when I grew up and began birthing humans, I decided my husband and I needed a minivan as well. He agreed. So we bought our 2000 Toyota Sienna five years ago (and just paid it off!!) and have put it to great use. We are totally "The Swagger Wagon" couple.

I like it. It's roomy inside, but not too big of a vehicle that I have trouble driving it. It's convenient, what with the automatic sliding door and the captains chairs and the 8,000 places to hide gum wrappers. Its leather seats are easy to wipe child goop off of. I can listen to my MP3 player through the sound system. It gets good gas mileage.

My single complaint? The horn. I have done extensive research, and Toyota and Honda horns are so wimpy sounding. Not like the blaring, in your face American horns. It's like a gentle whispered "Get out of my way", which isn't usually what we're going for when it comes to horns.

So why do all my friends who are just now entering the life stage of having multiple children hate minivans so much? I constantly hear "Oh, I could never drive a minivan." and "What am I, a soccer mom?"

It's amusing to me that these people complaining about minivans being used to cart kids around are spending half their lives carting kids around, just in smaller, less convenient vehicles or huge on the outside, tiny on the inside, gas guzzling SUV's.

What's the big deal about owning a family friendly vehicle when you have a family?

Do they wish they didn't have families to drive around?

Do they resent the idea of not having to pile 63 bags of groceries in their little trunks?

Do they like bruising their heads every time they place a child in a carseat?

Do they enjoy climbing ladders to do the same in an SUV?

I'll admit, I've never been one to worry much about social stigma. I really don't see what the big deal is about driving minivans or buying off brand clothing or choosing a PC over Mac or listening to Carman music. Maybe it's because I tend to be a global, big picture kind of person that the little details readily escape my notice. I like what I like. I don't usually ask everyone's opinion first.

Not that I don't have my own stigmas that I push on other people. Like how I hate country music. And the WB. And anything with "NCIS" in the title.

But I would hope that I would be open minded enough to be able to overlook my initial reservations if something would really benefit my life. For instance, the WB is playing the first season of Fringe on its website. I'm so there.

Maybe I'm just more mature than everyone else.

What are you laughing at?

I Love

To compensate for all the whining I did yesterday, here are ten things I love. It's all about balance. The universe makes sense again.

I love...

10. Air conditioning

9. My bed. Gotta give a shout out to The Original Mattress Factory for this one. I love my bed so much, I have a very difficult time getting out of it each day. I've complained to customer service about this, but he just reminds me that I lost "Rock, Paper, Scissors", so would I please get my rear out of bed and go change that diaper we smell.

8. The smell of Play Doh. Makes me feel five years old again. And I can mentally taste it. (You know you just did too.)

7. Minivans. Yeah, that's how I roll.

6. Museums

5. When my kids smell like sunblock.

4. Rainy mornings when Thing Two sleeps in till 6:47 instead of 6:46.

3. Road trips with my men.

2. That satisfying feeling of dumping out huge clumps of dog hair from my vacuum canister into the trash.

1. Tweezers. Probably the single most important invention as far as my life is concerned. Without them, I'd have werewolf eyebrows.

Top Ten Pet Peeves of the Day

I don't only have ten pet peeves. I have zillions. So many that I really can't be counted on to keep track of them. Maybe if I organized them into categories, such as child-rearing, housekeeping, yard work, traffic, and so on I'd have a better handle on them. There would need to be a sub category just for washing dishes.

Here are today's:

10. Toddlers covered in wet sand prancing around my kitchen.

9. When people say "I'm not allowed doing that" instead of "I'm not allowed to do that."

8. When my computer freezes in the middle of watching something.

7. Two words: Dog hair. Dogs should be hairless. Like fish. And The Observer.

6. When drivers go against traffic laws to "be courteous", such as waiting for you to make your left turn out of Tim Horton's parking lot before they left turn into Tim Horton's parking lot, meanwhile motioning to you obnoxiously that they want you to go first (because they're polite) and then getting frustrated when you don't go because of the line of oncoming traffic behind them that they don't notice and are partially blocking from your view...Ya know?

5. When Wal-Mart is out of size 6 Pamper's Cruisers. Nothing like parking 8 miles out, trekking all the way to the back of the store where the diapers are and ending up having to get Luv's (which wouldn't bother me except for the diaper rash Luv's gives Thing Two.)

4. Wet bathroom floors after children bathe.

3. Did I mention sand already? Because I found some on the basement steps too.

2. When bandaids leave residue on my skin.

1. When I have writer's block and can't think of anything to blog about except pet peeves.

I promise next time I won't complain so much.

Well, I suppose I can't promise that about sand and dog hair.

Sorry.

Nine Days

I haven't blogged in nearly nine days. NINE DAYS people. I have no idea why. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have nothing witty to say. Or the fact that I had a witty idea, but then found that I'd lost the pictures I was going to use, so it went out the window. Or that I've been reading an interesting book (A Proper Pursuit, Lynn Austin), or that I've found three new blogs that are updated nearly every day that amuse me very much (this one, this one and this one). Not to mention all my regularly scheduled time on this one. I heart blogs. I wish I could say that I haven't blogged because I have a life...but we all know that's not true.

My random news of the day:

My bedroom is clean.

There is a brisket in the oven. (oooh yeah)

Thing One is taking a rather noisy bath.

Thing Two is taking a blessedly peaceful nap.

We're having a family reunion tomorrow.

Hence the brisket.

My kitchen is NOT clean. (Some things never change.)

I'm really antsy to go somewhere and take pictures of things.

I've just decided that my husband and I will go on a date within the next seven days.

You may be getting a call about babysitting.

I should probably go clean the kitchen.

Why does it bother me so much that the past tense of "preach" is not "praught"?

Thing One is competing to be the most annoying child on the earth today.

I'm pretty sure he'll take the gold.

I figured out how to put links in my blog today.

I know, I'm a genius.

Okay. Time to do something productive.

Like read more blogs.