It's possible I made an error in judgment

The boys, for the most part, enjoy the same kinds of music that Grayson and I do ... their favorite is the current Top 40 stuff. We're talking, like Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga ... that type of thing. (I also listen to contemporary Christian and new Country, but they aren't as fond of that. Except Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift.) (But I digress.)

I've built a "Kids" playlist in iTunes, and all the songs they like get put in there, and we update it every week or so. I have an old-style iPod, and I don't have it set to show me album covers ... it just plays the songs.

APPARENTLY I NEED TO CHANGE MY SETTINGS. I noticed while looking over Nathaniel's shoulder the other day that the entire time a song is playing on his iPod Touch, the album cover is showing on the screen.

When I first took a gander, he was listening to this one:

And when I looked again, he was listening to this one:

Lord have mercy.

100,000 steps

Not sure that I've mentioned it, but I'm exercising again ... finally. I'm also counting calories using the app Lose It. It's nice because it tracks my calories, my exercise and weight loss, and it gives me a visual overview of each day to sort of hang on to and help me make sense of my good and bad habits.

Not that I care what my bad habits are. If I want to spend 300 of my precious calories on a pack of M&Ms, I'm gonna do it.

The Place Where I Work issued every employee a pedometer a few months ago, and we're being incented to exercise. We can earn money to be put back in our paychecks if we exercise AN INSANE AMOUNT. I'm working on it, but I don't know that I'll reach the goal in just 365 days ... mainly because I signed up in September and then missed three whole months worth of time before finally attaching that pedometer in January.

As part of the work fitness program, employees can challenge each other on the website, which my friend Melanie took the opportunity to do last week.

I'm not proud of this, but it is what it is.

 

 

I have no idea who's gonna win. But lunch at the restaurant of the winner's choice is on the line. So even though no matter who wins, I'll probably be eating a salad with light dressing, I'm in it to win it. Wish me luck!

Internet roundup

I think periodically on Saturdays I'm going to share some links with you to posts elsewhere that I really enjoyed, as well as some funny stuff I run across in my Reader during the week. Enjoy!

Laura at Hollywood Housewife shared her journey of faith in several parts this week, beginning in childhood and working her way up to today. I loved her honesty and respectfulness as she told her story. Start here.

Ten piglets were born to one mama this week. Oh my heavens, they are so cute they made me smile. Click here to see more pictures.

If I ever posted this status on Facebook, this is exactly the kind of response I would get from my friends. And I'd love them for it.

Possibly the grossest children's book I've ever seen

We went to the McWane Center last weekend, and while walking past the gift shop, a book caught my eye.

And if you think I didn't turn around and make a beeline straight to that book, you don't know me at all. When I got there, I confirmed that it was what I thought it was. A BOOK ABOUT SCABS. All about them. Just about scabs.

I flipped it open to see what kind of gems I'd find inside. And the first page I flipped to didn't disappoint.

Eating scabs. Ohhhhhhkaaaaay. I was hesitant to go any farther, but ultimately I decided to look at one more page.

AND WAS IMMEDIATELY SORRY I HAD.

Internet, I really couldn't take any more. I snapped it shut and went back out to find my family. Of course, NOW I wish I had read more. Just to see exactly how disgusting it got.

I mean, HAVE YOU EVER?

Innocence lost

Nick has been desperate to lose a tooth for over a year. He finally lost his first one last week, almost a full year later than Nathaniel lost his first.

I’d been imploring him to yank it out for a month, because it’s been loose for a long time. So long, in fact, that the permanent tooth has almost completely already come in … behind the baby tooth.

Braces, anyone? The day after he lost it, we were driving home from school when, out of the blue:

Nick: “Mommy. We all know it’s impossible for someone to sprout wings and fly, so obviously I don’t believe in the tooth fairy. How about you and Daddy just give me some money for this tooth?”

Me: [wryly] "Sounds good."

15 minutes to brighten up your cube

Since I came back to work at the beginning of the month, the grey walls surrounding me have been bothering me more than ever before. (I had an office with windows until about two years ago, and ever since it's been kind of gloomy.)

So here is the view I've been accustomed to for the last couple of years:

I decided that I wanted to brighten things up a little, do a little more than just have my little lamp to lighten up my space. So I went to Michael's and picked up two yards of fabric from Ty Pennington's line. I used a coupon, and the cost was under $15.

I "hemmed" it with my stapler to get even edges instead of raw ones, and I stuck it to the cube wall behind my computer monitor with some clips. The clips will allow me to hang things like my wall calendar, important reminders, etc., while serving the dual purpose of securing the fabric so it won't slip.

I didn't iron the fabric, nor did I really make much of an effort to flatten it out before I took these pictures quickly with my phone, but you get the idea.

It's not much, but it really makes me feel good about my space! You could easily achieve the same thing with some fabric from the clearance bin or even wallpaper remnants. A 15-minute project!

Alabama's most recent disaster

Top Alarm System has been kind enough to offer local bloggers a chance to make a difference with regard to the tornadoes that hit the Birmingham-metro area yesterday. They have pledged to make a $25 donation to the Christian Service Mission for every post written about the disaster, provided that we bloggers alert them by linking up on their website.

Having seen the devastation on the news, I had to jump at the chance to do my part to contribute to Top Alarm's Disaster Relief Program.

It seems as though the events of last April 27th occurred no more than two months ago. As you drive through the areas that were most severely affected, it's astounding to still see such visible reminders of the storms. Tree tops look as if they were sheared off with dull hunting knives. Blue tarps still cover roofs and missing siding. Some homes are still in their completely demolished states, abandoned, never to be rebuilt.

So for more tornadoes to come through night before last, well, it just added insult to injury. You may have heard about one of the people who was killed, a 16-year-old in a suburb of Birmingham. One of my coworkers lives on her street and was out at 4 a.m. yesterday, helping search for her. Devastatingly, when she was found, she wasn't alive. As a parent, I can imagine no greater grief.

Please keep our city and state in your thoughts and prayers. Most of us have returned to work, to school, to normal life with perhaps momentary annoyances of travel detours due to downed trees, or at worst, power outages at home. But for the people who lost entire homes and for those who lost loved ones, life will never be the same again. The simple sound of a siren or the shape of a polygon in a textbook will forever bring back memories they'd probably like to bury forever.

If you're a blogger, I ask that you write a post about the events and then comment on Top Alarm's page to let them know. And if you're not a blogger, please take just a moment and remember those who are in such need today.

Every day I'm shufflin'

Because of all the complications after Amelia was born, combined with the fact that I just went back to work, my cadre of doctors wanted me to wait to return to exercising until we were all confident that I truly felt "normal" at about four months postpartum.

At my eight-week visit, I asked if I could stroll her through the neighborhood, but they didn't want me to get away from the house, especially with a baby in a stroller, and have another blood-pressure event, leaving me essentially helpless. So I hadn't so much as walked around the block since I had Amelia.

All that changed yesterday evening, when I pulled on my running shorts, laced up my shoes and clipped on my pedometer before I left work. And here is what I learned:

1. Stretching alone can be painful if you haven't done it in five months.
2. I'd already walked 2,200 steps yesterday by the time I started stretching. But we're supposed to walk, you know, TEN THOUSAND every day.
3. My iPod doesn't work anymore unless it's plugged into its base. So it died while I was stretching.
4. But my songs are loaded on my phone, so YEA!
5. My phone has some sort of setting that when it's shaken, the songs shuffle. As I began to walk, it shuffled to a new song about every 10 seconds. THAT WASN'T ANNOYING AT ALL.
6. I piddled with it until I figured out that you have to make the screen inactive before you move so that it doesn't count your body shakes as an invitation to shuffle songs.
7. If I piddle with my phone while walking, I will trip.
8. The two-mile route that I covered took me 5,000 steps.
9. Leaving me 1,800 short for the day.
10. I'm gonna have to up my game.

But the important thing is, I'm back in the saddle. Wish me luck.

Auto-correct strikes again

The other day, Heather announced on her blog that she and Jon have separated. I've been reading dooce since before Leta was born, back when they were renovating the kitchen in their first home. It's been, what, eight or nine years?

Her blog has changed since those early days, but it's still a daily read for me. The post about their separation is her most beautifully written post in years, in my opinion.

So surprised and saddened was I about their separation that I texted my sister immediately, but auto-correct bit me in the butt because I didn't double-check before I clicked Send.

Apple really ought to get on that. She's practically a household name.

Two-ingredient strawberry fudge

If you signed up to take a Valentine's treat to school, work or Sunday School, this would be a fun, easy option. Thanks to Cookies & Cups for the great idea!

Ingredients

1 can of strawberry frosting
1 12 oz bag of white chocolate chips

 

How to Make

1. Prepare a 9x9 pan by spray lightly with cooking spray.
2. In the microwave, melt your white chocolate chips.
3. When chips are melted, remove from heat and stir in your strawberry frosting, evenly.
4. Spread in your prepared pan and place in fridge to set for 30 minutes.
5. Cut into squares to serve. Or use a cookie cutter to make fun shapes like hearts!

Uncomfortable truths, vol. 21

1. I am irrationally bothered by people who refer to the first in a series of movies as "[Whatever] 1." Toy Story is not Toy Story 1. Kung Fu Panda is not Kung Fu Panda 1. They are Toy Story and Kung Fu Panda. Their SEQUELS are correctly referred to as Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 and Kung Fu Panda 2. You'd think I'd give my kids a pass on this one, but no. It annoys me just as much when they do it as when adults do it. Karate Kid 1? NO.

2. I said "twenty-ten" and I'm saying "twenty-twelve." But all last year I said "two thousand eleven." I don't know why. "Twenty-eleven" just didn't work for me. I have no idea what I'm going to do come next year. "Twenty-thirteen" isn't sounding so hot to me.

3. They say "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Not true. If it were, I'd weigh 106 pounds.*

4. Related: I went to a scrapbooking crop the first weekend in January. I had no problem sitting in a chair for two solid days, only getting up to eat and go to the restroom. Being sedentary is my spiritual gift.

5. When I change lanes, I am extremely sensitive to how many blinks my blinker makes. I like it to blink about eight times before I start moving, then blink all the way through the lane change, with two blinks after I’ve completed the lane change. And yes, I DO count them off in my head. Just like a crazy person.

* I wrote that before Ree did, but she published hers first. (I compile my Uncomfortable Truths over a few weeks and then I publish them.) Just wanted you to know I didn't steal it.

My future son-in-law

Okay, on the off-chance that Amelia doesn't marry one of Lisa's or Honor's kids, I have a back-up plan.

Right before I came back to work, I drove the kids over to Atlanta to see my friend Monica and her new son Luca for the day.

Monica and I met in 1987 and became fast friends. She's lived in Italy for the last few years, but we're lucky enough to get to see her pretty much every time she comes back to the States for a visit.

Monica's another friend with whom I have so much shared history ... she has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and she's raising two beautiful little boys. Scott is nine months older than Jake, and Luca is just a few months older than Amelia. He's such a happy baby!

Amelia fell for him, hook, line and sinker.

Mr. Happy!

Truth be told, she didn't always know what to make of Mr. Happy.

But she loved laying beside him and hanging out for hours.

He DID try to make some moves on her occasionally.

Got a little hands-y.

When we felt like the house was going to explode from the force of my kids' energy, we loaded them all up and went to a nearby park. Unfortunately, all three of the boys fell off the merry-go-round into a puddle of mud.

And then Jake tripped on his way to tell me about it and went head-first into another muddy spot.

Luckily he recovered quickly quickly.

Still, they were wet and cold, and I had to swing by Target to get them some dry pants on clearance so they could ride home in relative comfort.

I am happy to report that the mud came out of even the khakis, which I didn't have much hope for initially. A few mud stains wouldn't have been able to temper the happiness I felt at being able to meet Luca and hang out with Monica for the day, though.

Twenty-five year friendships for the win!

20 years

2012 marks a special anniversary in my life, 20 years of friendship with Lisa and Honor. We met in the Spring semester of 1992, our freshman year in college.

When my parents were visiting us over Christmas, my dad remarked, "I wonder how many college roommates stay as close as the three of you have." I don't know for sure, but I think we might be the 1 percent in that respect.

We have been present for each others' most exciting and saddest moments. From crumbled romantic relationships, to college graduations, to weddings, to the births of our collective nine children, to shared vacations, and everything in between.

Our children love each other like cousins. And I love these women like sisters.

Lisa lives here in Birmingham, just a couple of miles from me. Honor lives in Chattanooga, two hours away.

They are the first people I call when I have news, good or bad.

When they hurt, I hurt. When they're happy, I'm happy.

I don't know how many people are as blessed as I am to have this sort of friendship. (Yes, that IS a bearded dragon meeting Amelia, below.)

I hope that most women are that lucky, to have more than one friend who "has your back" at all costs, the type of friend you can talk to every single day and not get bored.

The type of friend who snuggles with your kids like they're their own.

We try to get together every year several times, and 2011 might be the record-breaker since we all lived together back in the '90s.

We counted, and we think we were together nine times last year, sometimes with the rest of our families and sometimes without.

All I know is, these girls feel like "home."

They are my second family.

Twenty years. It's a long time.

But I hope for at least 50 more. Greedy? I hope not. I hope nine weddings are in our future ... the weddings of all these little people.

Ooh! Unless! Unless some of them marry each other. PERFECTION.