tell me something good

i am imperfect. i make mistakes all the time. i get angry. i want my way. i usually think i'm right. my weaknesses and sinfulness cannot be hidden for long if you know me i probably offend without knowing, hurt without wanting, stomp all over without meaning...but i long to know that sometimes, someplace, to someone or someones i did something right, meaningful, lasting, worth this life. encouragement is a good thing!

Here's an article that goes along with these thoughts...we all need encouragement!!

vanity and unwanted hair

How in the world do I explain why I'm tweezing my eyebrows to my 3 year old while she is going to the bathroom?!

"Why momma?  Why you do that?" she asks.

So many answers pop in and out of my mind, but nothing sounds good, right, honest or what I want her to hear. 

Answers like:

Well, I have these extra hairs that keep growing out that I don't want...If I don't get them, I'll have a bushy uni-brow...It drives me crazy when I see those little buggers sprouting out in the wrong place...For whatever reason, God gave me some extra ones...Oh I'm just multi-tasking, just passing the time...Because my best friend in middle school showed me how and said I needed to...Maybe because I'm just vain and self-conscious and always imagining people staring at them wondering why I don't take care of that mess...It's something to do while I'm waiting for you on the potty...You know, the beautifully made up models with professionally shaped & groomed brows create expectations in my head that I can't ever meet, but somehow I still want to strive for them.

Oh boy, I just want this conversation to go away!!  So I say, "Don't forget to flush" and off we go.

But I am reminded of what really matters, because of her question.  Get over it I tell myself.  And at least for the moment, I will.

BTW - I did a google image search to get a photo of a pair of tweezers.  So scary to see all those different types of pluckers out there.  It's made me even more aware of this crazy insane culture we live in that detests unwanted and supposedly unnecessary hair - we're so vain!!

What are we doing to ourselves?

The more I read about food in America, the more terrified and disappointed I become all at once.

How can the system that is supposed to look out for us be so controlled by the wrong hands?

Meat.  Chicken.  Milk.  Eggs.  Wheat.  Fruit.  Vegetables.  So many of the basic staples are of frightening quality now unless you really seek out good stuff.

I see I have a long road ahead of me.  Lots to change.  It will take time, effort, energy, and dutifulness.  Such a bummer when life is so busy and you just need another gallon of milk (again) on your way home from work.

Fight back America!  Edcuate yourself and don't fall prey.  Each time you shop you send a message.  Tell them we choose to be ignorant no longer.  Tell them to stop the craziness by refusing to buy processed, altered, hormoned, weakened, obesity diabetes and heart disease inducing food?  If you can, tell them!

Food Renegade website

Non GMO Project website

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.) book

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats book

the movie "King Corn" and "Food Inc" on DVD

"The Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan book

oh joy (sarcsm)

 just love walking into an empty bathroom to find the hot water runnng endlessly for no one's benefit. grrrrrr.

Why do parents say the things they do?!

...or give looks the way they do?

I'm sure I've been guilty of this a hundred times, so forgive my rant.  Maybe it's a pet peeve  Maybe it's just an ongoing observation?

Why are we so judgmental of other parenting styles/decisions/choices/you know what I mean?  Co-sleep or crib.  Breast feed or formula.  Pacifier or finger.  Schedule or no.  Home school or private school or public school.  Spank or time out or give breaks.  Cloth or disposable.  Stay at home or working mom.  SUV or minivan.  Epidural or "natural".   I know I have my opinions and I know what's worked best for us so far.  But, we are still new to parenting.  It's often overwhelming!

There are SO many decisions we have to make in our heavily blessed choice saturated nation.  Contrast this to so much of the rest of the world where children are lucky to make it to adulthood, have a place to call home, eat enough food to thrive, and the time to go to school.

I am just amazed.  It is my desire to encourage parents to figure out what's best for their child and their family at any particular time.  Each child is a unique gift from God born to a unique set of parents and a unique family dynamic.  As we all know, they don't come with instruction manuals!  So, I implore mankind (or Bay Area parentkind I suppose), please stop trying to force your "right" way of parenting on everyone else!  Please stop the subtle disapproving looks when someone is doing something a little different than you.  Come on, at the park, you've seen it right? Maybe even done it?  Why can't we (me too) consider that this mom or that dad might actually have a good reason for whatever they're doing!

In fact, I've found the more time I spend listening and considering each perspective, each story, each view point, the more I realize that often right and wrong is so elusive when it comes to parenting.  Most parents sincerely want whats best and they're trying to survive some very difficult years.  If we need help or we feel out of control, hopefully we get wise Biblical counsel.  May we seek God's wisdom and may His Spirit lead us.  And let's stop judging what others are doing!

God willing, our children will all grow up one day.  Whether or not they had boob or bottle, eventually they start eating food.  Whether or not they slept in our bed or their own, eventually they grow up and leave the house.  And hopefully, no matter what kind of school they go to, they seek to pursue God always and glorify Him with all they do.

Maximizing Time

Life is sure different for me now with two kids.  I used to live a more orderly, efficient, time managed life.  These days, I feel like it's usually just living in moments of reactive chaos!  Most plans are thwarted, delayed, or altered in some way!

Anyway I keep thinking that there are some tangible things I have learned as I adapt that may be useful to share or simply remind myself of!

Here are a few time wasters in my life that a) I would love to get rid of, b) I actively try to get rid of, c) I don't do anymore, or d) I try not to do anymore!

* junk mail
* commercials
* email spam
* that 45 seconds you have to wait to leave a voice message if no one answers
* folding underwear and socks
* organize my clothes closet
* folding towels "the right way"
* dusting (it just keeps coming back!)
* making my daughter's bed (she just climbs in all day and plays in it anyway)


And here are some things that I have started doing in order to stay sane:
* always put away 3-4 things before I go to bed (toys, mail, dishes, stuff)
* get more silverware so we don't have to wash dishes as often
* ignore the dirty dishes sometimes
* can't stay awake for a movie, go to sleep!  sorry dear!
* junk mail first thing goes to recycle box
* take responsibilities off my plate, lower my expectations
* thank god for the toys i trip over, we are blessed
* praise god for the messes, life granted us another day to live
* being satisfied the clothes are clean even if they're not put away or hung up
* not freaking out when my house is a disaster
* not freaking out when I can't find something
* being okay with not knowing everything, everywhere, all the time


It's late.  Time to go to bed instead of brainstorming such random thoughts!

a particular personal vexation

I'd love to know what your biggest pet peeves are! Will you share with me?!

Having many roommates over the years and marriage has taught me that I don't always know what my pet peeves are until someone starts doing something that particularly vexes me personally!

Tonight at Target, I have a list of 5 things to get. I have 25 minutes or so before I need to be somewhere so I just planned on getting in and out quickly. Of course, that's when everyone else seems to operate in slow motion and right in my way!

Here are a few of mine:

* slow people walking in front of me, not paying attention, and I can't get around them
* movie theater talkers
* drivers who don't use their turn signals
* sponge left in water or in sink, not wrung out
* walking into spider webs
* talking to me, but walking away
* ignoring a full garbage can or making it overflow if it's full
* not putting things back where it was found
* returning phone call with an email
* DVDs that skip in the middle of a movie
* constantly being interrupted
* too much perfume or cologne
* when I'm asked for advice and then the advice is ignored
* chairs not pushed in at table after a meal
* TV left on and no one is watching!
* buying fruit only to discover it is not ripe, sweet, or good at all.

Check out this huge list. There are a lot of annoyed folks out there!

I'll add more of my own as I think of them!