So maybe there will be a few surprises this season...

Was anyone else shocked to see Alaina go last night? She wasn't one of my personal favorites, but she is better than some of the others. I for sure thought Amanda was gone. She was awful this week. I wasn't surprised with the boys' results.

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Little Man has a milk allergy. We have been aware of this for quite a while, but the problem came after he was weaned at a year. At first, he was fine drinking either vanilla flavored soy milk or a soy-based toddler drink. Then one day, I literally went to the store to get more, came home, and he would not touch the stuff. He refused to drink it. He'd take one sip and shake his head "no" and give it back to me.

I tried on and off for a long time to get him to drink some milk again. I tried different combinations. I tried mixing in chocolate or strawberry. I tried rice milk. I tried just telling him it was juice. I finally gave up and he has basically only had diluted juice or water to drink since then (about 3 months). I've been a little worried about him not getting enough calcium and protein and also about his calorie intake. He eats a lot, but most of what he eats really has no substance to it - like fruit.

Then two days ago I got the disgusting idea of diluting his juice with the soy milk instead of water.

I went and got a little quart of soy milk and used that to dilute his juice down and he went for it! (Except for when I filled his sippy cup too high and so it was foaming a little out of the spout. You know he has a thing with bubbles). It sounds sick, but I tried a little sip and it actually tastes kind of like a smoothie.

So far so good.

Any other suggestions out there on how to get some milk into him?

Numbers

Number of out-of-the-ordinary expenses this month:
2 new tires
1 new van battery
1 doctor appointment
3 prescriptions
2 car registration renewals
and soon to be - 1 eye doctor appointment (I think Big J needs glasses - why do all the bad genes get passed down?)

Number of clothing items Big J has destroyed or lost since the beginning of the school year:
4 pairs of jeans (4!!! holes in the knees)
2 pairs of sneakers (2 already!!! I don't know what he does, but he makes them into hungry shoes - you know the kind that the front opens up like a mouth).
1 pair of church pants (how do you get a hole in the knee of your church pants?!)
1 pair of pajamas (you guessed it - holes in the knees)
1 lost jacket
1 lost pair of gloves
*He obviously does not understand that the clothes I buy him are considered an investment to be passed down to the next in line.

And the best of all:

Number of naps I got today:
2

It is amazing how much better I am already feeling. Yay drugs! I am not a huge proponent of popping a pill the second you feel a little off, but on the third day of running a fever, feeling like I had been hit by a truck and not being able to sleep because my lungs were on fire and being so achy, I went to the doctor. I didn't even have a primary care doctor because I literally never get sick. So I dug out our insurance stuff and called up the first group on there, asked if they were taking new patients and if they could get me in that morning. Sure enough, I have the flu with a respiratory infection, also. I got a Tamiflu prescription and some major cool antibiotics that have kicked the crud out of whatever was going on in my chest. Today I had no fever and feel so much better. Definitely on the road to recovery.

Why the World Would Stop Functioning if Only Men Lived in It

Yesterday morning both JC and I woke up with a fever. I had been feeling run down for a couple of days, had a headache, etc. Yesterday my temperature ranged between 101 - 102.7. JC had a lower-grade fever for a while and then didn't have one at all by the afternoon. We both were coughing and had that "achy chest" feeling. I had chills all day long. My eyes were burning and felt like they were going to pop out of my head.

Let's take a guess at who got a l-o-n-g nap yesterday while the other person went about business as usual? When you have small children who can't fend for themselves, that's what you have to do, right? Apparently, only if you are the mom.

I will give credit where credit is due - he did pick up both boys from school. And he picked up a pizza. So between 2:00 - 4:00 I laid down - more like collapsed. But I got up to take Big J to Tae Kwon Do. And got the kids ready for bed....

Today, my fever has hovered around 100 - 100.3. JC has had a higher temp at 101 - 102. Let's again take a guess at who took an even l-o-n-g-e-r nap (like 5 hours) today and who went about business as usual and has yet to have a real nap.

I'm just wondering what it is with men and illness? God forbid they were they ones who went through pregnancy and then birth. And then the recovery after the birth. That's a killer. Or what about that "special time" of the month, for that matter? Man, that alone would shut down the place for an equivalent of 3 months out of the year. The world as we know it would stop functioning so they had time to complain about how crappy they feel and then sleep until they were better. Poor babies....

The Curse of Costco and the Spirit of Texas

Yesterday I ran to Costco to stock up on some much-needed things. We were completely out of milk (it's $1 cheaper there than at the regular grocery stores!), eggs, bread, Diet Dr. Pepper - you know, the necessities. I had Little Man and Big J with me, as Little J was banned to take a nap in his room since he was on one big time. (Luckily, I have a husband who works from home). After an hour in the store, we brave the frigid cold that I believe is never going to go away, load up kids and groceries, and...the van won't start.

I have decided it is Costco's fault that the battery went out, because just a few weeks ago when I was there I got a flat tire. A bus driver actually honked at me to let me know about my low tire. I ended up needing both the front ones replaced. Our battery was starting to show signs of weakness probably 3 months ago, but it was always after a car door had been open for a while, and it was always in the comfort of my own garage. I've never been stranded by it before.

So I pull the jumper cables out of our trusty automobile emergency kit and start trying to track down someone to help jump us. I was parked towards the end of the parking lot, so not a ton of people were readily available. I start walking toward a man and his wife who are loading their car. They load it, get in and drive away. I approach a woman with her teenage daughter and ask if she could give me a jump. She doesn't even look me in the eye as she tells me she's late getting her daughter to basketball practice and so I should go into the tire center inside and see if someone in there could help me. Ok...

Then, I see an older man wearing a navy suit and a pinstripe shirt, complete with a red silk handkerchief in his pocket. I realize as his automatic locks beep that he is parked right next to me. I ask him for a jump. He unloads his stuff and pulls his car around to align our batteries. I say, "Thanks so much for doing this. I know it's freezing out here!"

To which he replies, "Well, when you're from Texas, that's what you do..."

Surprised, I told him I was also originally from Texas, which sparked off a very lively and pleasant conversation. This is what I found out about the man with the red handerchief:

His name is Joe Poor. (I don't know if that is how you spell it, but that is what it sounded like).

He had lived in Longview, TX, since 1950 where he had a 5 bedroom house, a lake house, and two boats completely paid off before retirement.

He moved here to be close to his daughter and 3 grandchildren.

She went to SMU and met her husband who was from here.

He was never home for his kids growing up because he was a workaholic and so he decided it would be the right thing to do to enjoy his grandkids while they were young.

This past Christmas Eve they set everything up for Santa, something he had always missed doing with his own children, and then he and his daughter and son-in-law sat around the fireplace drinking cocktails and talking until 2 a.m.

By this time the car was jumped and we were numb from the cold, so I shook his hand and told him thank you again. He even opened the door for me.

I'm glad to report we now have a new van battery. And I am proud to know that the Spirit of Texas lives on, even in transplants. Thank you, Mr. Poor!

I Smell a Rat

Last year was the first year I had watched American Idol since the very first season with Kelly Clarkson. It was fun and so we have faithfully been DVRing the episodes this season. I was impressed with a lot more of the talent that was on the show, especially compared to last year when I felt like about 3/4 of the final 24 contestants were not that great. Maybe the show is trying to avoid the disaster that was Sanjaya getting through episode after episode, but I was really disheartened to find out that many of the final contestants this year are not truly "undiscovered talent" as the show professes.

A few examples that I have come across include Carly Smithson, the tattooed Irish singer. She had a complete record deal with MCA that BOMBED big time several years ago. She has grown up in show business and MCA spent millions of dollars on her and she sold like 300 albums. Kelly Lee Cook was signed in Nashville 7 years ago. Robbie Carrico was in a Florida boy band that opened for Britney Spears (he even dated her briefly). Many of the others have at least some foot in with the entertainment industry through acting, modeling, or other means. One guy that made it into the top 50 was nominated for a Grammy because of a duet he sang with Alicia Keys! He mysteriously dropped out. Undiscovered talent? I don't think so.

I'm not saying that these people shouldn't have a chance at their dream. They should. I just think that if they already have had a shot, or if they do have some connections already, they shouldn't be the ones to make it through. How many wannabes with awesome voices stood in line for hours and didn't make it through? Or is that the problem? Is America completely washed up with absolutely no new talent to offer? Notice two of the final 24 actually aren't even American...hmmm.

I have the sneaking suspicion that the rumors that have floated around for years are true. I'm thinking this all can't be a coincidence and that this show is rigged. At least to a certain point. I guess I am a complete hypocrite, though, because I am still totally going to watch it.

Perceptions and Misperceptions

So today is the third or fourth time this winter that church has been cancelled because of the weather. Today it is because there is a layer of ice under the snow and there is a "blowing snow advisory" causing bad visibility. Yeah, can't say I'm too disappointed. For how much I really dislike the winter, at least here you get a payback occasionally. ;-) I did have a really cute Sharing Time planned for Primary, though, so I guess I'll have to put it in my arsenal for future use.

It is probably a good thing we don't have church to sit through, because last night we were at some friends' house and so the kids' didn't get to bed until 10:00 and of course were up rearing to go by 7:00. I don't know what it is with my kids, especially Big J, but they do not know how to sleep in!!! Even Little Man was up by 7:30. Ten is a really late bedtime for them, too, because they are usually in bed by 8:00 at the very latest.

Last night was fun, though. They had a karaoke machine that a few of us took a stab at. I actually did it (had to bust out with Fancy - the best country song ev-ah ;-), even though I can definitely see how karaoke would be a lot more fun if you were a little buzzed. I like the vocals for Rock Band better than straight-up karaoke, but it was still fun. But now the last song of the night - "The sign said 'long-haired freaky people need not apply'!" - is stuck in my head.

Something which struck me as funny was a comment someone made to me, because I couldn't help thinking how interesting the perceptions people have of you and the perceptions you have of yourself are. I was drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper and someone commented that I must be from Texas because everyone from Texas prefers Dr. Pepper. Then another person commented that you could tell I was from Texas because I was an extrovert. Huh? I don't get what that has to do with Texas anyway, but that struck me as a funny comment. Mainly because I am a lot of things, but an extrovert is not one of them. I am not a complete introvert, but I definitely would not say I am an extrovert.

But when I looked around at who was there, probably in that group I was more of the extrovert. It's just really interesting to me how the different roles you play help build the perceptions people have of you. For example, I have always been in leadership-type roles at church. I am involved in other things, as well, where I would be perceived as the one "in charge," or atleast in roles where I was teaching, coordinating, or doing something where I had to make decisions and present myself to people. I am comfortable taking on those roles. But take me out of that and put me at the 1st grade moms brunch, for example, and I am sure people there perceive me as quiet and reserved. Because I am. I'm not a social retard that doesn't talk to anyone, but I am definitely not going to be the center of attention. I am always grateful I have a very social husband, because otherwise I'd probably never talk to anyone socially.

I just thought it was interesting and it made me wonder what other kind of perceptions or mis-perceptions people have of me, and I have of others. I think it is fun when you find out something about someone that totally goes against the perception you originally had of that person. It makes me think of that old saying, "Never judge a book by its cover." How true that is!

Funny Little Man

Little Man turned 16 months this week and I have decided he is destined to be the comedian of the family. Maybe it's a third child thing, but he is turning into such a little goofball and will do things totally on purpose to make us laugh. He has recently added a few new tricks to his repertoire. They include:

1. Putting a coat, blanket, bib, etc., over his head to hide his face and then putting his arms out and making "scary" noises like he's coming for us.

2. Picking his nose. Well, not really picking, more like sticking it up there and keeping it there. The more we make a big deal out of it, the more he smiles and shoves it right back up.

3. This is my favorite - Very dramatically putting his hands over his eyes like he's crying and making a crying sound. This is pretty funny, and he will do it on cue if we say something like, "No more for you!" He will also turn his head to the side and squint up his eyes up and make a kind of "waaaa" sound. (This is all totally joking - he'll grin up at us after he does it).

4. "Talking" on his play phone with really funny facial expressions and his head cocked to the side. Although, he has added the word "hello" to his word list now, which isn't a very long list to begin with.

5. He will bust a move if we turn on the music. He always runs up to our entry way (which is a step up from our living room floor and doubles as a stage for various occasions) dances around a little and then will hit the floor like there is a gun being fired or something. He does it everytime, and we aren't quite sure why, but I think it is his imitation of the boys' (um?) break dancing skills (?)

He is just really enjoyable to have around. Very sweet and pleasant. Even when he's not being pleasant, he is pleasant. So I'm just giving you fair warning that we may have a future night-show host in the making.

Updates

1. I have been running ever since my commitment. It isn't pretty, but I can already tell a difference in how I feel. I re-confirmed that I really do not like running inside on a treadmill, as I've found I look at the timer, the distance log, or the speed indicator about every 2 seconds which makes 1 minute feel like 15. The most I've run straight on the treadmill is 2 miles. This past Monday we had a freak blip in the weather and the temperature got up to 58 (much nicer than the 0 -15 degrees of the previous weeks). It was really windy that day, but I ran outside and ran about 3 1/2 miles at a much better pace than I ever do on the treadmill. It's just easier for me to actually go somewhere when I'm jogging than stand in one place. So, as you can see, I have a L-O-N-G way to go, but I have already seen improvement.

2. This was the first week we have implemented "The Plan". The plan I am referring to is the plan to make my children useful people with the end result being productive, independent adults. Basically, we just structured their chore lists and created a list of age-appropriate "life skills" we think they should be able to learn this year. These include lots of things such as learning to tie shoes, opening saving accounts, learning to make sandwiches, learning how to properly answer and make phone calls, etc. Each year new things will be added. We also instituted a small allowance for them to start learning to pay tithing, save, and budget. If they want more, there is a list of "money chores" they can do on top of their regular chores that will earn them extra money. The boys have really stepped into it well with minimal moaning and gnashing of teeth (ok, sometimes it is beyond minimal, but overall pretty good attitudes have been present) and I am pleased with the direction things are going.

3. I finished The Book Thief and I thought it was an incredible book. I can't get it out of my mind. I don't even know how to describe the experience of reading it. It was so touching and poignant to me. The only thing I did not like is that it took the name of Lord in vain quite a bit. But the writing, the story, everything was very powerful.

4. I had my first and only parent/teacher conference with Little J's preschool teacher. He's doing awesome. In the academic area he knew all his personal information like birthday, address, phone number, etc., all his uppercase letters and 24 of his lowercase ones, all his numbers to 23, all his colors, shapes, etc. etc. His "still progressing" areas were sharing and taking turns with the other kids. That and he thinks he knows everything a lot of the time. Overall, her comments were that he is very smart and fun to have in class. Good job, Little J!

I think that's about it for this week!