Thinker

It may or may not surprise those of you who know me in real life, and, I guess, those of you who know me via my blog, that I am a thinker.  Some may call me a deep thinker, but I suspect more would refer to me as an over thinker.

"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes, I just sits." - A.A. Milne (muttered by Winnie the Pooh)



This image © The Walt Disney Studios

I really can't turn my brain off.  Even when I am quiet, my mind is mulling over something or the other.  Looking back, I am pretty sure both of my parents were also thinkers.  I can remember my dad just sitting back and watching when the whole family would get together.  He didn't talk much (unless you got him to talk about God or politics).  But, he would just sort of sit there, looking over his brood, every now and then we would get a smirk, or the ever elusive and rare smile....with teeth.  If you could get my dad to actually laugh out loud, it would give you an ego boost for years to come.

My mom is more of a quiet planner. She doesn't like to make moves or do anything until she is done thinking it over.  Top to bottom.  Left to right.  Backwards and frontwards.  She doesn't like to make a move on anything until she has thought it through and is ready.  She talks more than my dad did and we can get her to laugh quite a bit.  But, she will also be content just sitting and thinking, like my dad was.

I seem to have gotten both of their thinking proclivities.  Depending on who you ask, that may or may not be a good thing.  I have totally found myself sitting back and looking at my brood (plus my little extras that I watch) with that secret little smile on face, that I can totally remember seeing on his face and wondering what was going on in his mind.  For me, it is a sense of peace and contentment.  A sense that really as long as I have these people surrounding me, all will be right in the world.  I wonder if he was thinking some of those same thoughts?  I also do not like to make any moves until I am done thinking it through.  (I don't even like to hang pictures in the house until I have thought through every possible place they could go and picked the best one.  I don't want unnecessary nail holes, you know.)

The problem with my thinking comes in when you marry me off to Rainman.  You have heard me say that he is one of the smartest people I know.  He is.  But, the man is not a big thinker.  He is impulsive. He is a risk taker and likes to jump in.  No thinking.  No measuring.  No pros and cons list.  Gulp.  He plans a trip and before that one has even gotten here, he is working on planning our next two.  He spews dates, plans and hotels at me.  My eyes glaze over.  My upper lip breaks out in sweat.  My ears totally tune him out.  I do tell him that I can't think about it yet.  But, he is so caught up in his excitement, that he can't contain himself.

I can't do it.  I can't think about that until I am done with the most immediate thing, whether it be a work assignment, or an event at church.  I have to finish that up.  Put it behind me.  Then I can move onto thinking about the next thing.  This is sometimes where I wonder if I do actually have a waffle portion of my brain and that it isn't all spaghetti.

I assume it is because my brain is such a thorough thinker that it is trying to save me by not having me have too much information and too many things to be processing at once.  I know Rainman finds it annoying that I can't get excited about the next five trips he has planned, or even the next one, if he talks about it at the wrong time, but the very thought of it truly overwhelms me.  Again, it is not that I don't enjoy traveling.  It is not that I am incapable of letting loose and having fun.  I do and I can.

I find myself now, just sitting and drinking my coffee and looking outside.  Just like I used to see my mom do.  I also find myself sitting outside reading.  I can feel the sun on my face, the breeze on my skin and be able to hear the world around me.  Just like I used to see my dad do.

Am I the best of both of them....or the worse of them?  I guess it depends on who you ask. Ha!

I do know that I am not changing.  Rainman still doesn't understand me.  I can't seem to figure out a way to tell him  that his incessant trip planning and planning and planning truly overwhelms my heart and soul.  But, I assume that his planning and planning is just who he is also and he won't be changing anytime soon either.

We need to figure out a way for us both to be able to do our thing and not get in the others way.  Wonder if that is possible?

My thinking has also been the thing that has stopped me from blogging more often.  I actually have lots of stuff I would like to share with you guys.  But, then, I start thinking.....will this or that hurt the kids feelings?  Will this embarrass them?  Will they misunderstand my motives?  Will people think I am weird?  Will trolls be mean to me?

So, I end up in a never ending thinking loop that I can't get out of.  I am mentally paralyzed and don't do anything.  My friend Kristy, though, actually sent me a message and said she had missed my writing and asked if I was going to start up again.

I know you will be shocked to know that I thought about it....and decided to try to jump in again. Even though there really is a piece of me that thinks,  "Why would anybody care to spend time reading about my life, my thoughts, or my opinions?"

Honestly, this was way easier when my kids were younger. (That is not a sentence you hear very often, is it?)  They were just my little people...not really their own just yet.  Does that make sense?

I absolutely have thoughts, feelings and opinions on teenagers and the world around us, but because they are older now, I hesitate to share our stories for the world to see.  So, I am stuck.  I am not a food blogger or a home improvement blogger.  I am not even a homeschool blogger anymore, even though I am still 100% behind homeschooling.

If you have stuck with me and continued reading this, I will end with saying, I am going to try not to overthink and blog a little bit more.  It truly is a fun way to document our lives and the funny things the kids have said or done.  Sometimes, I will go back and read some of my old posts and had totally forgotten some of the stories and cute things the kids did.  It is fun.  Makes me feel bad that I am not doing as good of a job for my younger three as I did for the older three.  (just like with their actual scrapbooks....those poor children!)

I am going to try to do better.  That is all.

Sleep and Weird Noises

A bit of FYI business before I move on to my main post.

I am wrapping up review season with the TOS crew...so there will be quite a few reviews coming your way in the next few weeks.   Some of them are exclusively for homeschoolers, but some of them can make great supplements for your public school kids too.  So, don't write them off automatically.


I had intended to get up this morning, have my 5 minutes with God and leave the house to write.  It was a really good plan.  When I went to bed last night I realized that I actually didn't need to set my alarm because nobody needed to be anywhere in the wee hours of the morning...and no extra kids/babies needed me this morning.

I was so excited.

Rainman and I slept from 10 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. at our bed and breakfast and were shocked at how good we felt when we got up.  We could have slept for hours more, if we didn't have to be adults. ( I wonder if some of it had to do the fact that even if there was a weird noise or something, we knew we weren't the ones that had to deal with it.)

It felt so good.  I was super excited to get that kind of restful sleep in my own bed.

I didn't get to bed quite so early last night...it was probably 11 or so before we were all tucked in our beds where we were supposed to be.

Rainman and I had some nice pillow talk and off to sleep we went.

Ahhh.....

Until the beeping started at...hmmm....I would say 1:00 a.m. or so.

I knew just what it was too, because it had scared the kids earlier in the week when it started beeping in the basement.

It was our First Alert Carbon Monoxide detector.  It had gone off earlier in the week in the basement. Of course, I was the only adult home....so we opened the doors down there...set the reset button and waited.  It stopped beeping.  All good.

Then a few days later, it did it again.  It got to the point that the kids were afraid to go in the basement.  They started going down 2 by 2 whenever we needed anything from down there.  (It made me laugh because our basement is heaven compared to, say, my Grandma Braastad's creepy basement - starting with her steps where someone could grab your ankles through the back.....)

I didn't panic too much about it beeping (even though the kids had read the back of the thing where it said to call 911 and were in a bit of a panic) because logically, I couldn't figure out why it was going off - since we had had windows open with the nicer weather.  When I had it in the basement, it was sitting right next to our dehumidifier, so I thought maybe that was the problem.  I decided to do an experiment and put it upstairs, in our kitchen.

It didn't go off for days....until 1:00 a.m. last night.

Of course.

This time though, I wasn't the only adult at home, so I woke up Rainman to help me handle it.  He got right out of bed and headed to the basement, while I tried stopping him to tell him I had moved it into the kitchen.  It was a comedy of errors with us both stumbling around, squinting at things trying to figure out why it was being so stupid in the middle of the night.

We couldn't figure it out because it was plugged in right under an open window.  I went back to bed about the time Rainman got out the screw driver to pop that sucker open and take a look inside.  LOL  It is nice when you can trust someone enough to head to bed and let them handle it.

He was gone a really long time.  Long story short, he did a little internet research and the 5 chirps every minute we were hearing meant that our detector had reached the end of its life and needed to be completely replaced.....not that we were about to become a sad news story.  So, he just unplugged it and chucked it in the garbage.  We mumbled to each other that we would have to add that to our list for Lowe's (that and batteries for our smoke detectors....which we remembered we had just taken a few of them off the ceiling when they beeped and we didn't have replacement batteries for)

Ahhh....sleep.....where are you?

Rainman, of course, even though he had been up...in the light...and reading on the computer...fell asleep almost immediately.  Took me a little longer, but I did too...until.....the next round of weird beeping/chirping started at 3:33 a.m.

This time it was Rainman's cell phone that he had forgotten to charge - emitting its.."hey....you need to charge me" annoying tone....that I seem to be the only one to hear...and it is always....always...in the middle of the night.

I flopped out of bed and went and plugged it into the charger mumbling about never getting to sleep. Rainman, who had awoken at my dramatic cover flop, looked at the clock and reassured me that it wasn't even 6:00 yet, so I would be good.

Men.

I didn't actually wake up this morning until 8:30 when the light from the sun actually hit me in the face.  It was great, and weird....I am almost always out of bed when it is dark.  It was honestly very, very strange.  Plus, sleeping in like that messes with my alone time/quiet time.  A-man was already up doing school when I came into the living room.  So, it has just been a weird morning, but one where I can honestly say, I appreciate having a partner in life with Rainman,  for those times when even if you don't want to, you have to be an adult.

I went back to bed last night and started thinking about my kids....especially D-man and A-man having to be the brave one that checks out the weird noises or even to be the one that stays up getting to the bottom of the weird noise, so their wife can go back to sleep with the full confidence that they will handle it.

I hope and pray that all 4 of my girls end up with a nice, brave fellow adult to face the weird noises with too.

What We Really Did on Monday

We had to be home from our time away by 10:00 a.m. on our anniversary.  So, on our actual anniversary, we really taught 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade.  We babysat adorable 9 month old twin baby girls.  And, we also went to a Key Club induction ceremony.

Have you heard of Key club.  I hadn't until D-man and A-girls school started a chapter.  It is part of the Kiwanis Clubs.  In simple terms, they are basically a service oriented volunteer organization.

Their school started a Key Club at the end of last year, so their official induction ceremony was this fall.  It was scheduled for the night of our anniversary.  We decided that since A-man's baseball game was cancelled, that we could all attend the ceremony and then we could pop over to a Mexican restaurant that we had a gift card for, for a family anniversary celebration.

D-man and A-girl had to be there early, so they took the car and we met them there later with the van.  When we arrived, we saw both A-girl and D-man buzzing around.  Busy with stuff, not just chatting.  I was pretty sure D-man was some sort of officer, but honestly couldn't quite remember which one.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are looking at your child and you can't quite figure out what was going on....where this kid has been hiding....how in the world they got so good at something?

Let me just say this about D-man, he has always been super smart.  Always.  Super smart. Homeschooled.  Non-homeschooled.  His brain just works in a way where he can remember and fit together all the stuff he needs to know to get it right on tests.

He has also always been a pretty funny and clever guy, but as he has gotten older, and more mature, I could see him quieting down and picking and choosing his times to be funny.  It is a good thing.  It is a mature thing.

Well, it turns out that  D-man is actually president of his chapter of Key Club, which means the bulk of the induction ceremony duties were on him.  He was basically the Master of Ceremonies behind the microphone.

He is a really good public speaker.

Who knew?

He spoke clearly.  He had inflection.  He looked around at his audience.  He made a few jokes.  He basically had command of the stage.

I sat there thinking....who is this kid?  I just didn't know he had this little piece of him in there.  The local head of the Kiwanis club spoke and shared part of his earlier conversation with my son.  It is interesting to hear what other people think about your "people".  It was interesting to hear what D-man had shared  with him.

A-girl also holds an office.  She is the fundraising coordinator.  Neither of us are completely sure what that means yet, but I know she will do awesome.  She is determined to do her best in absolutely everything she tackles.  So....look out world.

Side note:  A-girl has been eyeing one of the skirts in my closet for awhile now.  It is a skirt that hasn't fit me in forever, but has made all the moves with us because I can't quite let go of it.  She asked if she could possibly wear it to the induction ceremony.  I said yes.

The funny thing is....well....I guess in my mind there are 2 funny things.  The first funny thing is that I remember thinking I was big (fat) at the time I used to wear this skirt...but I wore it all the time.  It was my date outfit.  I wore it with this rust colored scoop necked t-shirt.  I had a lot of dates, so I wore it a lot.  The second funny thing is that both Rainman and I are pretty sure I actually wore it on our first date....20 something years ago......exactly.

Awwwww......or Ewwwww......depending on your outlook.  

Anyway, the induction ceremony went great.  We realized, at one point,  that A-man and D-man were wearing the same basic outfit.

D-man and A-girl finished up their duties and off we went to the Mexican restaurant....but it was closed.  Cones blocking the parking lot kind of closed.  Boo.

Luckily, there is another Mexican place nearby since we were all wanting chips/salsa (but we didn't have a gift card) - we decided to live dangerously and go anyway - because it was $1.00 taco night!  Yay!

Rainman and I both decided we would get a margarita in honor of our anniversary.  This place has them in like 5 different sizes....colossal, monster, jumbo, large, and regular....or something like that. Well, Rainman ordered a large and told me to get a jumbo...so I did.  (Peer pressure: apparently I am still susceptible.)

Oh, my word....it was practically larger than my head!  Can you even imagine with the colossal or monster sizes are?!?!?

Don't worry, I wasn't driving and I didn't finish it!  It was yummy though...I could have just had that and my chips and salsa and been a happy woman.

It was a good anniversary and I am glad we got to do something special with the kids too.  Strange to think back to both our first date and the day I married Rainman.... and see what has become of us....to see the 6 little people that have entered the world because of us....because of our first date at Baker's Square....because I said yes to a second date....because I agreed to marry this guy.....God is amazing, isn't He?

Our Itty Bitty Time Away

Like I told you yesterday, Rainman and I got to sneak away for a little bit for our anniversary.  Back in the early days of our marriage in Minnesota, we went to a Bed & Breakfast every year around our anniversary.  That stopped somewhere about 3 or 4 kids into the deal.  It just got harder and harder to coordinate childcare, our work schedules, and our money.  So, it sort of faded away.

Earlier this year, Rainman announced that he thought we should go to a B&B down here for our anniversary.  He even looked on-line and found a few for me to look at.  I told him I would research and see what I thought and see if we could figure out childcare.  Back in Minnesota....we had family that we could farm the kids out to....or Rainman's mom would fly up from Chicago and stay with the kids.

Georgia is different.  No family and friends that are busy with their own kids/jobs.  However, we also have sort of old kids now.  Rainman assured me that D-man and the other bigs could handle it.  I absolutely trust my kids to babysit other people's children...but, for some reason, I was hesitant about their own flesh and blood.  Ha!

Our biggest problem was finding time that would work.  But, we found a itty bitty time slot right at our anniversary.

Last week, Rainman kept asking me....so...are we going or not?  (Oops...I hadn't done anything) I looked on-line and found a little B&B south of Atlanta that I thought looked promising.  I contacted the inn keeper and she had vacancies.  So, we booked it.  Talked to the kids.  Figured out logistics of vehicles and which kid needed to be where and made sure D-man could handle it.

Rainman and I finally hit the road heading out about 4ish on Sunday afternoon.  At about 4:30, my cell phone rang.  It was D-man.  We had forgotten to leave him keys for the van.  Oops.  So, we turned around and drove home...again.  It was a lovely drive...both times.

We got to the town, followed our printed Mapquest directions that.....didn't take us to the B&B. Luckily, we had Rainman who has a brain for these types of things....we drove around a bit, looked at house numbers, he did some guess work, drove by many of the same houses 2 or 3 times,  and....we found our place....after driving around town for about 20 minutes. (I would have just stopped and asked for directions at the fire station, but that is me...where is the fun in that, right?)

We dropped off our bags in our room and decided to go try to find someplace to eat.  We were hungry.

But, that is the thing about small towns.....especially small towns in the south....lots of places are closed on Sundays.  So, we drove and drove....nothing....not many restaurants...and the ones we found, were closed.

We finally decided to drive to a nearby larger town and see if we could find anything there.  Then, we did the modern day problem solving technique (when you don't own a smart phone anyway)....we texted D-man and asked him to look on-line and see if he could actually find anything that was open and that looked good.  He found us a place that sounded good, but we couldn't find it.  Our car also doesn't have GPS either.

So, we resorted to the unthinkable....we actually called D-man on the phone, so he could describe the map to us on the phone. After a few false turns, we finally found this great little steak house in a strip mall by Rite Aid.  Despite its very odd location, it was really good.

We didn't try to have any big talks or discuss big lists on this anniversary.  We have done both of those before with mixed results.  Sometimes it has been fantastic and sometimes we have spent money to be at a B&B only to be completely annoyed with each other and our time filled with awkward silences!

This time, we were just together.  We just chatted about stuff we thought about.  The kids.  Work.  My writing.  Just chatting.  No "discussions".

It was nice.

I think we both had a good time.

We loved our inn keeper, Jenny, (by the way - small world moment here - after I booked with Jenny, I was looking on-line at reviews and things and found one from a friend of mine from church - who it turned out had been friends with Jenny since kindergarten!)  Rainman and I  decided Jenny had a very interesting, adventurous life.  Plus, she was super fun and super sweet.



She is also a caterer and has had some cool clients.

How you christen a room when you have been  married for 19 years.....like this....LOL!

Jenny left us yummy chocolate cake for our anniversary.  The frosting was like my mom's chocolate frosting.  That thick kind that hardens.   Yummmmmm......

The bathroom was spectacular.  Although it took Rainman a minute to figure out how to flush the toilet.  Apparently I have been in a lot more old houses than him because I coached him through what to look for from the hallway!

I was so excited about getting into this tub.  So excited.....

.....but, I was too tall for it to be comfortable.  I ended up having my knees up in my face, but, if you were a shorter person than me...it would have been fantastic!

There was even a music room, which, if we had had more time, I would have sat down and played the piano for a bit.

We sat outside on the porch for a bit.  It had a comfy love seat and this cool lighting.

Jenny served us a beautiful and delicious breakfast, but apparently I am showing my age again, because I just.... ate it when it came.....and didn't remember that I should have taken a picture of it until I was almost done.  It was far less pretty then.  So, use your imagination....

Jenny even sat with us for a bit and chatted.  We were in a hurry to get home because we had obligations and children waiting for us.  But, it was good.  It was really nice, just a bit more rushed than I would have liked.


If you are ever south of Atlanta, near Barnesville....check out the Rumble Seat Bed and Breakfast and say hi to Jenny.  Tell her I sent you.  She is awesome!

On a side note:  Remember she is a caterer too and she also does cooking classes and not just regular, old cooking classes...check this out...



...she also does destination classes.  Last year, she took a group to Tuscany for a week.  See?  Fun, adventurous life.

Love Is.....

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary to Rainman.  We snuck away for a miniscule amount of time...so I am reposting this article I wrote back in February about what love actually is....

Remember that comic strip from the 70’s, Love Is…..? They had the little naked people extolling little “love” snippets of wisdom. Remember that one? That was my first introduction to thinking about love. I remember reading that comic strip, feeling slightly creeped out that they were naked, but also feeling wishful that someday that would be me….in love. (Insert breathy sigh here…..)

I was a voracious reader when I was in high school. I think my mom would haul me back and forth to the library every Saturday morning for a new stash of books (I will have to ask her if I am remembering that right). I read a lot of things. I read Science Fiction, Action/Adventure, but, I also read a LOT of Harlequin Romances. They were pretty innocent back then. No heaving bosoms or anything. In lots of those, the couple would fight through the whole book and finally realize on the last few pages that they were meant for each other! Or, the heroine would be a young innocent 19 or 20 year old with her first job, of course, as a secretary who knew shorthand, and the hero would be the rich, foreign businessman that would boss her around for the whole book and then, finally, on the last few pages start being nice, because he realized he was in love.

I am not sure if mom knew that I was reading romances or not. I may have hidden those ones between the other, more scholarly looking books. But, my thought process on what the man/woman relationship should be, was being formed. Yes, by my parents and others I knew in real life, but, also every t.v. show I watched, and every book that I read. Let me tell you, the thoughts that were being formed were creating a very unrealistic idea of romantic love. Very unrealistic.

I desperately wanted to be in love. To be loved. Of course, he would be handsome and rich. Of course, he would take me on whirlwind adventures and buy me things. Of course, we wouldn’t argue (even the young, naive me knew that wasn’t what ideal couples did!) Of course, he wouldn’t ever be gross or rude.

And, of course, I didn’t get asked out in high school.

I pretended that it didn’t bother me and kept busy with….everything I could. But, I was totally bummed out and felt like a loser. Wanting to have a boyfriend pretty much consumed my every waking thought.  Uggg, when I think of the time and opportunities I wasted on the pursuit of….love/boys.

Ahhhh, the foolishness of youth.

As someone who has come out the other side and survived numerous bad relationships from my first boyfriend, as a freshman in college, who was a pastoral student who didn’t like the attention I got when I sang and totally and completely broke my heart. To the pot smoking biker, with the wallet chained to his pants. To the, pretty sure he was slightly corrupt, police officer, that was 18 years my senior (Want to be a little creeped out? He was fighting in Vietnam the year I was born.) To the very bad, very brief, very unhealthy first marriage. I feel like I know a thing or two about love now. Real love.

I definitely feel like I know the difference between the important things and the not so important things now, when it comes to love. Things that teenage me, or even young 20’s me, wouldn’t have understood….or, would have even thought about.

Important things like:

Looks really aren’t that important. The man you fall in love with might have really gross feet. You will probably gain weight after having children. The man you fall in love with won’t care at all about how much you gained or how long you keep the baby weight. He really, really won’t.

Sadly, the lessons I learned about love, came from the failures. They were heart breaking, gut wrenching, and even downright stupid ways to learn. My hope is that somehow I can pass along these lessons to my children, so they don’t have to learn the hard way, like I did. Unrealistic? Maybe. But a mom can hope, can’t she?

I learned about someone truly loving me for me, not the package, by being married to someone who was all about the package. I won’t go into detail about that marriage, but, he seemed to love me (or be kind to me) only if I kept the house clean, and washed the dishes when he thought they should be washed. He hid food from me…for, in his own words, “my own good”, because he wanted me to “look like the woman he married”. The tall, slim beauty pageant blonde he was proud to be seen with. We got divorced.

I am still a little ashamed to be a divorced woman. That was absolutely not part of my plan for romantic love or my life. But, I am. It is what it is.

But, I learned.

I am happily married now, to Rainman. Someone who, much to my children’s embarrassment, is “all over me” size 8 or size 22….because….he loves ME….even when there are dirty dishes piled on every available inch of counter space, and when there is laundry, toys, and school projects strewn all over the living room.

Rainman really and truly loves me…for…me.

I want my children to learn from my many, many mistakes. I want them to know what is important in love and in life. I want them to know that boring is good. You don’t need drama, or even “chemistry” to be happy in love.

I didn’t think Rainman was cute on our first date, but, we closed down Baker’s Square that night, because we couldn’t stop talking. I didn’t like the way he was dressed. He had what I jokingly refer to as “anchorman hair”. I didn’t like the fact that he was Catholic. Since I didn’t even think he was cute, he and I certainly didn’t have any of the oft touted “chemistry” that everyone says is so crucial to a relationship. But, did you catch the part about us closing down Baker’s Square because we couldn’t stop talking?

Guess what? I think he is super cute now. We have had 9 pregnancies with 6 children to show for it, in our 18 years of marriage. Those children are in an almost constant state of embarrassment from us being so “into” each other. So, guess how our “chemistry” is now?

Rainman isn’t romantic. Never has been. Never will be.  I have survived. (Here is my dirty little secret….I am not really the right kind of girl to be on the receiving end of romantic gestures either. I roll my eyes at flowers, jewelry and mushy sentiments being expressed. So, I guess we were meant to be. LOL)

Rainman isn’t a lot of things. He isn’t selfish. He isn’t picky. He isn’t concerned about how I look.

Love Isn’t…..

Love Isn’t…..flowery words and gifts.

Love Isn’t…..romance.

Love Isn’t…..only for the good looking, rich people.

Love Isn’t….. going to stop bad things from happening to you. They will.

I want my kids to know that you will have days where you wake up and say, “Who is this person I married?” You might even say, “Why did I marry this person?”

I also want them to know this very important thing:

You will not always like the person you married.

That one shocked me. Scared me, even. Nobody told me that one (they didn’t tell me about morning breath and kissing either). But, once I figured it out for myself, I could scroll back through memories of couples that I have known – my parents included – and realize that it was true. It did not mean that I had made a horrible mistake in marrying Rainman. It certainly didn’t mean that I should cut my losses and start over with someone else. It was normal. It would pass. I would once again like, and fall in love with this super nice, and yes, slightly annoying, man.

Love Is…

Love Is…..your husband making sure you have a full tank of gas.

Love Is…..your husband going to the grocery store…so you don’t have to.

Love Is…..watching your husband make your kids giggle…..every single day.

Love Is…..being with someone who isn’t tied up with image….yours or his own.

Love Is…..your husband giving YOU a massage, even though you are a massage therapist.

Sometimes, love does NOT come in the package or the way you envisioned, (sometimes it is a size 22 – me, sometimes it is attached to a person with gross toenails – Rainman), but it can be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Rainman and I make absolutely no sense on paper, but we are awesome in real life. Boring, but awesome!

Getting Ready for the Trip

Before I tell you about this trip, I have to give you a little background information on how all of our trips have worked in the past.

Rainman tells us what time we need to leave, whether it is a road trip, or we are heading to the airport.  He will say a time....or really.....a time slot....."by 8:00 or 8:30"....or "let's plan to hit the road no later than 6:30".  We all pass the message that Rainman/Dad said so and so time.....and we would all know that he would be the one NOT ready at whatever time he said.

 We would all sit around tapping our foot annoyed that he wasn't ready when he said.  So, we would start the trip all crabby and snappy and he would stroll in (having only gotten himself ready and packed) when he was good and ready laughing at our crankiness.

So, we all started revising our estimated hit the road time based on what he said.  Like, if he said 8:30, we would know that the earliest we would actually leave would be 9:00.

So, this time around, we discussed what time we were going to hit the road to Florida.  Originally, we were going to hit a local fall fair on our way out of town, but, it had been raining for about a week straight, so it was cancelled.  Rainman said we were going to leave by 10:00.  So, I did my usual math and figured we would leave about 10:30, so I didn't rush.  I figured that way I wouldn't start the trip all cranky and annoyed with Rainman.  You know?

Well, let me tell you, Rainman pulled a fast one and actually decided he was ready to go at about 9:45.

What?!?!?  

I was actually planning to fix my hair and wear make-up - and basically "try" to look good. Sometimes, if I know we are going to be in the van and just roll into the hotel, I don't really try.  But, this time, I had plans.....big plans.

Rainman did something that he literally hasn't done in almost 19 years of marriage.  He was actually on time....early even.

Annoying man.

I had lost my list.  The list that V-girl had helped me create the night before.  So, at the last minute, I was frantically trying to remember what we had put on there and to remember.  My hair was wet...which for some reason bothered him.  He rushed me out of the house and I felt annoyed and frantic and just generally, discombobulated.  I knew I was forgetting stuff....but I couldn't remember what it could be.  So, I informed him that he would just have to buy me new.....whatever it was that I forgot.  (I did make him turn around when I realized that I had forgotten the camera battery.)

Off we went.  The road trip part went well, kids got along, we listened to our new Carpenter's CD, ate at Wendy's, I got a Frosty.  All good.  One step closer to.....

We got to the hotel (which is a timeshare condo thing), got settled and went out to Tony Roma's for dinner.

We used to eat at Tony Roma's at the Mall of America in Minnesota.  We used to LOVE their onion loaf.  Well, the ribs too, but we used to get really excited about their onion loaf.  Obviously, since we have moved, we haven't had their food in years.  Rainman kept telling the kids about how awesome their food was, especially the onion loaf.  The bigger kids have a vague memory of our last time eating at Tony Roma's at the Mall of America.  We were sitting along the edge of the restaurant where people walking by in the mall could see you.  What the kids remember is that someone that Rainman worked with walked by and saw him wearing a rib bib.  They remember nothing about the food.  LOL

So, we went in to the Tony Roma's in  Orlando and went ahead and ordered 2 onion loafs.  Then they came out.  They were priced the same or higher than we remember, but they were like half the size.  You should have seen Rainman's sad face when he realized he would have to revise the amount of fried onion strings he would get to eat.  They still tasted good and all, but they were no longer loaf shaped.  They used to be a solid little loaf shape.  Now they are like wrapped around a tin soup can, so it was hollow in the middle and small.  Boo.

But, that sadness aside our meal was good and we headed back to the hotel.  We ended up with what is called a 2 room lock off, or something like that.  There is a door in the hallway, like normal, then you come into a little hallway and you have 2 separate room doors.  They aren't connecting rooms, they are adjoining rooms.  One of them was a one bedroom condo unit and the other was a 2 bedroom unit.  Rainman and I took the king bed and the girls took the other bedroom that had 2 queens.  The boys ended up in the adjoining rooms king bed.  All of the rooms had t.v.s, which is a treat for all of us.  So, since it had been a long day, we got ready for bed, snuggled, talked about how excited we were for the fun "stuff" to start and went to bed about 11:00ish.  Then 2:00 a.m. came and Rainman and I were awoken by our upstairs neighbors.  At first, I thought maybe they had gotten in late and were just checking in.  So, I was annoyed, but was trying to give them grace.

Then, they just got louder and louder.  The music pumped louder.  The sliding deck door opened and closed about a thousand times.  Rainman, at one point said, "Geez, how much furniture can there actually be for them to be moving around?!?!?" He was right though.  It became the game of...what are they doing now?  They weren't even trying to be quiet.  At all.  At 3:00 I finally realized that they were not planning on quieting down and called the front desk to complain.  They sent security out and our rude neighbors quieted down by about 4:00.

I drifted back off to sleep and was awoken at 4:30 by a tentative knock on the door.  I laid there a moment, thinking....Was that in my dream?  Did the upstairs people find out it was me that complained?  Then I thought....about the boys.

So, I grabbed my glasses and stumbled out to the door and looked through the peephole.  Sure enough, A-man was standing there all small and scared looking.  When I opened up he hugged me and started crying.  He had a headache and D-man told him if he was going to cry and all that stuff, he should go see mom.

I know.  He didn't even walk him over to our room.  He even had a key and could have let him in.

Poor guy.  But, I gave him some medicine and got him tucked in on our couch and finally went back to bed.  Man, I was tired.  We were all planning to head to church on Sunday morning.  My alarm went off and I did something I never do.....I hit snooze.  We were supposed to leave for church at 8:10.  Rainman came into our bedroom at 8:00 and said to me, "I take it none of you are going to church?"

Well, uh, I guess not, since you didn't wake any of us up.  Oops.

That whole 24 hour period was not at all how I would have wanted to spend it.  But, it is hard to be bummed when you are in the vicinity of Disney....and when you don't have to cook any meals.

It was a good trip. I will tell you all about it.  Probably more than you want or need to know.  But, I do have lots of pictures that are fun.


Oh and look what I found when I got home!

Right there.....next to the toilet paper and bathtub toys....in the hall bathroom.  Of course!

To Smart Phone....Or Not?

Verizon keeps sending me message saying something like, "Did you know you are eligible for a free smart phone?"

Yes, I have known.  I have had my same little slider phone for, probably 5 years...maybe 6.



I like my little slider keyboard.  And, I am of the mindset that I don't really need to be in constant contact with the "web"...."internet"....."interweb".....whatever it is called these days.

Yes, there are times that I think of something and wish that I could easily check it or Google search it.

I can actually get to the internet from my existing slider phone....but it is a little like dial up internet used to be....it takes a really long time for it to scroll through all the right screens and spin its little world thingamabob...and then another decade or so to understand what I am searching for and head there.

So, yes, it is basically not even worth it.  I just wait until I get home. (Or, if I am really desperate, I ask D-man - who does have a smart phone...he pays for it by the way)

I am sort of secretly proud  of my little slider phone.....or to use terminology I recently heard describing Minnesotans..... "quietly smug" that I am getting along just fine without a smart phone, thank you very much.

My little slider phone is small and fits discreetly in my pocket.  It has an actual little teeny tiny keyboard.

All in all, it is a great little phone.  I have recently increased my plan to unlimited texting, so I am good there too.  I had to up it because I was getting overage charges every month, because now every coach the kids have, in addition to my friends/family text pretty much everything.  It is convenient, I will admit.

But, again....I like my little phone.

However, I am starting to feel...hmmm....not sure what the word is...held hostage to the world, if I don't have a smart phone.

We are getting things set up up for our vacation (I will tell you where we are going later) and every time I turn around....or ask a question....the response is something like this:

"Just download our app, scan your card with your phone and...."  blah, blah, blah.  Everything.  Everything has that stupid little black and white secret code thingie.

Seriously, if D-man didn't have a smart phone, we would be stuck with some of these things and not be able to do them (a few of them you can do from a normal computer, but it takes twice as long)

So, yes, sometimes I do longingly look at my friends shiny new phones and covet them a bit.....or wish I would have the ability to snap a picture when I forget my camera.  But, then they start talking about the newest versions, how the latest software upgrade has bugs, how long the wait is for the phone they want and I am happy to keep my little slider phone.

I really do like it.

But, I am feeling like I am being forced to get a smart phone.

I like our monthly bill too, Rainman has one of these babies......




He has sent a total of 1 text in his entire life (granted he has to scrolled through the keypad until it gets to the right letter.)  His text read this, in response to A-girl's coach, "OK"

He occasionally treads into the pool of getting internet on his little flip phone - if there is a big game going on and we are out somewhere.  But, other than that, he makes or answers actual phone calls on his.  That is all.

Our monthly bill is $85.  I like that amount.  I do not want to have to mess around with data charges and all of that jazz.

So, that is where you come in.....tell me your smart phone stories.  How much is your monthly bill? Ideally for 2 people with phones.  Are data charges easy to go over?  How much do you love or hate your smart phone?  Wish you would have waited for a different model?

I am really feeling forced into taking the plunge, so I am going to need some advice....since I am at that age where I just hand technology over to the kids and tell them what I want to do (similar to how my parents would just hand over the remote control with the VCR....or program the microwave).

I need help....and advice.

To Souvenir or Not to Souvenir

(Since we are heading out on a family vacation soon, I thought I would repost this article I wrote for Home and School Mosaics, back in July sometime....)

To souvenir or not to souvenir - that is the question....right? Can I get an amen, mamas? You know that you will be asked that question at least once on vacation, right? Rainman and I have very different opinions and approaches to this issue. I am MUCH more practical when it comes to this and he is much more YOLO (You Only Live Once) in his approach.

I am afraid that, most times, it ends up being a bit of a Good Cop/Bad Cop scenario.

For a real life example of our differences, I submit Exhibit A – our Trip to Venice, Italy:

Back when we just had two kids, Rainman’s job had a short term assignment in The Netherlands. We moved over there into a house for a month. We spent our weekends traveling by train to Germany and Belgium. At the end of his work assignment, we took a 2 week vacation and toured the places we couldn’t get to in just a weekend. One of those places was Italy. Loved Italy. Beautiful scenery. Really sweet, beautiful people. Anyway, we went to Venice and toured the glass making/blowing island called Murano. We took the little boat ride over. Sat through a demonstration of how they make their pieces. Then, as any good tourist tour ends, they dump you in the gift shop…or, in this case, the showroom. Rainman and I wandered separately taking a look at their wares. At one point, Rainman came over to me excitedly telling me what we needed to take home with us. He made excited exclamations about how beautiful it was. How colorful it was (he knows me). He said, “Come here! Come here! Look at this! We need this!” I looked.

I wish I would have snuck a picture of what we was so excitedly showing me. It was a tray, a pitcher, and 8 small glasses. If memory serves, they were blue and red and sort of striated….with gold shiny stuff on them. Very ornate. Very…not me.

It was one of those moments where I had to do quick mental gymnastics and decide whether he was joking or serious and respond appropriately.

I mean we were traveling through Europe on a Eurail pass, with our 2 small children (and their double stroller), my parents, Rainman’s mom…and all our luggage. Did he really mean we should add a bunch of ornate, highly breakable stuff to our entourage? Or pay a whole bunch of money and have it shipped home?

I don’t remember the details of the actual conversation, but I remember my points of it being impractical. It being too fancy for us. It being something that we would rarely, if ever, use, which would mean it was just a dust collector. As well as my main point….it was too expensive. It was like $800 American dollars. His points were something along the lines of, you only live once. We probably weren’t ever going to get to come back to Venice. Look at what a conversation piece it would be.

I think you get the idea. In this case, thankfully, I “won” with this $40 beauty.

This has been used. Yes, when it isn’t used, it does just sit and collect dust on our mantle but, believe me, it is a lot easier to dust than his drink set!

But it is a perfect example of our two approaches to buying stuff when we go on trips. I have learned to relax my stance a bit on souvenirs and he has learned to be practical every once in a while.

The kids are not dumb. If they want something, they know who to ask.

They do not ask the lady who birthed them who thinks pictures are a perfectly good souvenir of the trip. They ask the guy that is willing to buy t-shirts or wooden replica guns or coon skin caps. He does not like to say no….even though sometimes he admits that he wants to. We have learned the couple shorthand/secret coded messaging that if the kids ask him at a store and he says “Ask your mom.”……he is really sort of wanting me to say no….so he doesn’t have to.   LOL I am perfectly fine being the bad guy in this situation, because I know it leaves us more money for going out to eat or, quite frankly, going on more trips!

Really, to me, pictures are a perfectly good souvenir or our trip. Maybe a few beautifully photographed postcards to add to the scrapbook too, but pictures to me are enough. They document the event. They induce memories.

Okay, yes, I can sometimes go overboard on this: I submit Exhibit B: Picture 247 of 416 of D-man’s Prom:

I am perfectly fine taking pictures and just being together. Making memories. Shared experiences.

Rainman, on the other hand, would be fine skipping pictures….unless it is some sort of panoramic view ….without any people in it…..that he finds amazing. (I find those pictures boring too. I need people in pictures, preferably close up shots of my babies!)

We have learned to compromise a bit, and to tweak things a bit so we are both happy and nobody is angry.

We set a budget ahead of time. (No, we don’t always stick to it….because somebody still has the basic “you only live once” mentality. But, it is at least a marker or barrier for us to shoot for.)

In my mind, stuffed animals are not memories. In Rainman’s mind they are…..if the kids bat their baby blues at him and call him “Daddy”.

Our compromise means we tend to steer more towards getting fridge magnets from the places we have visited and not stuffed animals or t-shirts from every single one…..just some of them. Although, I have even had a t-shirt forcibly thrust upon me by Rainman….from here…..

It has made a nice set of pjs….because even though I am not the most stylish person in the world…this is not the sort of thing I would purposely wear in public. No offense to the wigwam people intended. I will remember our nights in the Wigwam more for the boys and I trying to get a selfie of us….and none of our arms were long enough.

I don’t need things to remember events. I have reached that ripe old age where I really just want to spend time with people. Even when I just head back to Minnesota for a visit. I really do just want to sit and chat and get caught up. I don’t need to go do something (well, I do like to hit Baker’s Square and Culver’s while I am there…..)

It is the same with my kids and even Rainman. I just want to be with them. I want to laugh with them. I want to try new things and laugh about how badly I am doing them. I want to snuggle. I want to point out the window at how pretty the mountains are or the cloud that looks like a dragon. (Oh, and I want to eat out…at a restaurant….with waitresses and all that fancy stuff.)

There aren’t any t-shirts for those things.

So, to souvenir or not to souvenir? What is your answer to that question? For me, Kayla, the person, the answer is rarely to souvenir, but, because I am also Kayla, the mom, AND wife to Rainman, and saying yes to souvenirs makes him happy, the answer is …..sometimes, when it is reasonable and not crazy expensive. I learned my lesson in Murano (and also learned that when I think Rainman is joking…he probably isn’t…and vice versa!)

So thankful I don’t actually own these puppies! (although you can if you visit the Etsy shop of EvaElsieElla)

How about you - do you guys "do" souvenirs?  Is it part of our trip budget?  Do you go crazy and regret it later?

Dream Analysis

Any of you guys do any dream analysis?  Have a book that explains them?

I had a weird one last night, but I have a few recurring ones that I would love somebody to tell me what they mean!  My most frequent one isn't being naked, or even showing up for a class I have never been in just in time for the final exam.  Nope.  None of those standard ones.

Mine is that my teeth are crumbling and falling out.  Anyone?

Last night's dream was strange in that the location changed a few times, from scene to scene.  I was at my current home in some and at my childhood home in others.  It started with A-man playing with a ceramic camel and chipping his tooth.  I was upset, so I went up to my room crying that my baby had chipped his perfect little face.  Rainman was there too and was trying to calm me down and say that having a chipped front tooth hadn't hurt his chances with the ladies - i.e. me.

Again - weirdness - because I went "up" to my room to throw myself on my pillow and cry.  But, at this house, my room is not "up".  However, my childhood bedroom is up.  The 3 littles followed me to the bedroom and were trying to comfort me.  A-man was just so sad that I was crying....that he had made me cry.   All of a sudden,  we heard a really loud voice from downstairs.  It was one of those times where I shushed everyone and tried eavesdropping from the crack of my bedroom door.....because I knew something wasn't right.  I didn't recognize the voice, but they were asking for help moving something.

Weird thing coming:  Somehow Rainman was no longer the man downstairs at the house, it was my dad.  My dad who has been gone for 4 years now.  Somehow, he  was still alive in my dream.....and it was current time, because the kids were the same ages they are now.  But, in my dream, Rainman just morphed into my dad and I didn't think it was anything strange in my dream.

I heard Dad tell then he would help but that he had to get dressed.  He came upstairs, I told the kids to stay put and be quiet and I snuck into his bedroom to see what was going on.  He said he didn't want them to know there was anybody else here, so we needed to be quiet.  He said he was going to try to help them - but he didn't think they really needed help.  But, wanted them away from the house, so we could call for help.  There was a whispered 911 call and even a red car filled with hit men heading up to our shed (childhood home).  But, then at one point the kids and I had snuck down to the basement and were planning to either hide out or sneak to the neighbors house via our shop door.  (current home).

I won't go into much more detail - because I am still trying to take A-girl's advice and keep it short - plus, I have no pictures of my dreams to break up my boring monologue. I will just put in this artsy picture taken by D-man.  It is sort of dream like, isn't it?

But, it was weird because as things kept unfolding, in some scenes, I was peering out of my childhood bedroom window and sometimes I was looking out my living room window at my own house.   I don't know where my mom or Rainman were in my dream.

It was just weird and I woke up with my heart pounding.  And then, had that truly sad realization that my Dad is gone and wasn't still with us.

Maybe I was thinking about dads because this week is always a hard one for Rainman.  His dad's birthday was a few days ago (he would have been 94) and the anniversary of his passing would have been today.

I never met his dad, but I remember the day/date he passed because Rainman and I have a sort of joke that we were both crying on October 3, 1992.

Want to know why I was crying on that day?

That was the day I married  my first husband.  And, yes, I really did cry that day - because, deep down, I knew I was making a big mistake, but I didn't know how to turn back and do the hard thing of calling it off.  So, I told myself everything would be better after the craziness of the wedding was over.  Oh, silly, naive little me.

Anyway, my point is that maybe I was thinking about Rainman's dad, which morphed my subconscious into thinking about my own dad and his protecting me/us....even when it was scary and hard.  I don't know.  I just miss him still.  It is the worst feeling when you wake up and have to remember that they are gone.

So, really.  Anybody actually know anything about dream analysis?

 I am really interested in the whole teeth crumbling and falling out thing!  Really.

Do You Remember.....?

Do you remember those weight loss commercials where the husband and wife and both sitting there all chubby?  They decide they are going to cut out pop.....or start eating salads?  Then man proceeds to lose 20 pounds or something and the wife loses 1?

Oh, look....I found one of them on YouTube!

"Now, we are both unhappy!"

Oooh.....here is another one....

It is so true....so and so funny!

"I haven't had bread in 2 years!"

Hahahaha!

We have had a little taste of this around here.  My husband decided that he was "fat"....because he could no longer fit into his clothes from high school....and he had to move to the 4th hole on his belt loops.  But, you have seen pictures of him.  He is NOT a big man.

Anyway, he started having a few more salads....and exercised a handful of times and voila!  This morning he announced he was victorious.  He is back on the 3rd hole and no longer had a gut.

Yay him, right?

I have pretty much completely given up on my weight for the time being.  It is too exhausting to think about food all the time. To think about what you can and can't eat.  To hear the whiners and the complainers about what is or isn't in the pantry/fridge.  And, mostly because, back when I was trying, I was exercising almost daily, did all the stuff you were supposed to do and....well, you know....watch the videos again above.  Sigh.

But, I am going to try to go back to the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating (separating carbs and fats - no potatoes, rice, sugar) and see what happens. Because, when I was following their guidelines before all my thyroid stuff happened, I did actually lose 45 pounds and kept it off - until everything with my thyroid made things sort of blow up in my face.....and I gained it all back.   I have seen some spectacular transformations by people that seem a lot like me - so maybe there is hope.

So what does that mean for you?  It means that you will be hearing about it whether you want to or not, because it will have to be a big part of my thought life and all of that jazz.

On that note, I will leave you with one more of those cartoon thingies.  By the way, I am not endorsing this product....or planning to use it.....I just love the spot on commercials!

The Talk Went.....

Thank you for any of you that actually took the time to lift up a little prayer for Rainman and I yesterday afternoon.

We decided our best bet on completing an actual conversation without endless questions, song and dance numbers, or, let's face it.....fights....was to actually leave the house.  So, he and I trotted off to Chic-Fil-A for a late lunch together.

Man alive....can I just say that Chic-Fil-A is ALWAYS busy.  I mean I have noticed it when we drive by - there are always people in the drive thru and the parking lot really does seem to always be full, but I figured at like 1:30ish,  the lunch rush would be over.  It wasn't.

It was packed.  We did manage to find a spot where there was only one lady studying some big textbook at the end of our section (but, honestly, she was still pretty close - there was only one of those skinny 2 person tables between her and us -  and I am fairly certain she heard at least some of our "talk" - poor thing.  Wonder how much we distracted her.  Hope she can still pass her test or whatever it was she was supposed to be studying for!)

We only managed to run into one family we knew from church, whose son said, "Excuse me.  Excuse me.  Where are your kids?"  Legitimate question.  Because for him, I am sure he only sees us in a pack formation coming and going at church.

And, the biggest thing - I only cried a little, so overall, I would say the talk went....pretty well.

We are not, all of a sudden, best buddies and googly eyed in love for each other again.  But, I was able to explain a bit of my feelings.  He was able to explain a few of his and state the shocking fact that I wasn't very good at receiving criticism.  (LOL) Are there actually people that are good at receiving criticism?  I will have to think about that one.

It is never good when someone starts their statement, "Now, don't take this the wrong way but...."  He only did it a few times, but I tried to put on my best....See?  I am receiving this criticism in the best possible way...in public.....next to a woman trying her hardest not to eavesdrop on this married couple sort of way.....while people from my church are right over there.....kind of way.

Oh and we were also next to the garbage can....where there was a little wall between us and the garbage.  I am pretty sure the worker lady was listening a little bit to us too - because it took her a really long time to exchange the bags and wipe down the area - plus, I think the second time she came back the garbage wasn't even full.......

The best part of our conversation was probably when we talked about the whole waffle and spaghetti thing going on with men's brains and women's brains.  Remember?  I posted about it a while ago.

We laughed about how true it is that Rainman completely has different little compartments for everything going on....every task.....every feeling....and one box - let's say the box where he is a little mad at me - doesn't even talk to the box where he goes to bed at night.  Know what I mean, ladies?  (wink...wink.....nudge.....nudge)

Mine, on the other hand is a mushy pile of noodles where everything.....everything.....everything....is connected and touches each other.  I thought it was sort of funny that I said that I wished I could be more waffle like and compartmentalize things, but Rainman had no interest in being more noodle like.  None.

The best thing I can say is that we managed to clear the air a bit and reaffirm for each other that we are still in this thing together - even if we find the other one annoying.  That is love, right?  Not movie or t.v. kind of love - but, real, down in the trenches kind of love.

And, it was good that he and I managed to clear the air and be all right with each other, because we had an event to attend with A-girl last night.  And nobody wants to be the one there with the parents who are doing the whisper fighting,  and the wife is keeping her nose in the air....and saying things like "Tell your father....."  Right?

(All I see when I look at this picture is - A-girl really has Rainman's face shape.  I have great hair and I have gotten really, really big.)

 I don't have pictures yet, so I will tell you more about it later.  But, we ran into a family that we know and the mom mentioned that her teenage son reads my blog.

When we got home, I heard A-girl telling L-girl what this mom had said in which she followed up with this statement, ".....I mean.....I don't even read mom's blog!"

Thanks, honey.  Thanks a lot.

Hahahaha....it actually cracks me up.  Both that this teenage boy reads my blog and that my daughter does not.  She did inform me that she thinks my posts are sometimes too long and I don't have enough pictures.  That is probably brilliant marketing wisdom right there out of the mouth of a 15 year old.  So, I will take it under advisement and see if I can't shorten things up and throw in more pictures!

Here is something I can show you pictures of......

I cut A-man's hair the other night.  He is getting to the age where he is finally more into his looks out in public.  I have cut his hair more often in the last few months than I ever have.  He spends a lot of time trying to explain to me how he would like his hair....and asking me for just a trim.   I wasn't quite able to get it exactly how he imagined it, but it is pretty good.  I am getting a lot less crooked....and chunky....when I cut.  So, that is something, right?

My whole point with this story though was the fact that he sat down in my chair and I blurted out, "Man, you stink A-man.  Like, you stink.....stink.  I mean....you really smell like a man!"

He sort of did a sideways smile and said, "Yeah, I know."  Like he was all proud of being smelly. Then I wondered if that is why middle school boys walk around in sort of a PigPen cloud of odor. They know they smell, they just don't care, because it means they are a MAN.

Before.....

After.....

Love that little smelly man.