This is what happens when it snows on a Texas boy...

How do you annoy me? Let me count the ways...

Ah...annoyances.

Part of everyday life, huh?

Being a stay-at-home-mom has really rid my life of a lot of the working world annoyances such as traffic, bad drivers, bosses (some, not all), etc.

But every person, no matter what their life situation may be, has SOME annoyances.

So I thought I would expand on 3 of my everyday peeves, annoyances, irritations (you get the picture)...if only to be able to look back on and see if they still bother me in the future.

**DISCLAIMER**

I have no intent of purposefully offending anyone with my post. All opinions are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone related to or associated with me.

Besides, in truth, I cannot cause you to be offended. Only YOU can choose to be offended. Keep that in mind for future incidences also. So if you don't think you can control your ability to not be offended, just hit that back button and go back where you came from. =)

3 THINGS THAT ANNOY ME

1. Let me start with a simple one...bad spelling.

I will be the first one to admit that I am not the world's best speller and for that you can refer to my unsuccessful attempts in city-wide spelling bees and constant usage of spellcheck.

I am a simple girl and don't typically use huge words in my vocabulary, but I try to do my best to make sure when I am typing something out, that I quickly check over it to see if I've misspelled anything. Yes, things slip by every once in a while (like when my mom called me to tell me that I had accidentally typed "whole" in my blog when I meant "hole").

Yeah, so I'm anal about things like that and fixed the mistake instantly.

But here's my real pet peeve...typing "there" when you mean "their", or "loose" when you mean "lose". It can seriously make a person loose there mind!! =P

Do you see how awful that looks...how ignorant?

Now I have full sympathy for those whose first language isn't English, because as I was told many years ago, English is THE HARDEST language to learn...so many exceptions to the rules, so many strangely spelled words and homonyms.

The annoyance comes in when I know that these people were born and raised in this country and have had the same education as others.

Yeah, maybe it's a stupid thing to be bothered by, but I just wish more people would be a little less lazy with their language skills and at least strive to TYPE intelligently.

2. Grocery store sackers

The sackers, baggers, whatever you want to call them...I swear they are out to get my groceries!!

I am seriously wondering if they even train these people anymore.

I have full appreciation for grocery store workers in general, as I did my time for 8 months as a cashier with a large grocery store chain...but please tell me that common sense in our youth these days isn't going the way of the dodo bird.

For example:

Let's see just how many cans I can fit into this micro-thin plastic bag...I mean, all cans go together, right?

or

You really want your sweaty milk jug in a bag? You mean you don't like having to rinse dirt and carpet fuzz off of the jug before placing it in your fridge?

Oh, and my groceries always come home completely violated when the "nothing better to do" sackers gang up on my groceries and 3 of them plus the cashier are tossing things recklessy into bags and no one knows what's going where and you end up with at least 4 bags with only 1 thing in them.

Ugh...I just want to tell them to move and let me do it myself!

Which leads me to THE WORST incident I've ever had with a sacker/cashier.

I was shopping alone and my unresponsive lump of a cashier was just a delight to stare at as she blankly tossed my groceries to the other end of the conveyor belt. But her sacker was even more lovely...especially when she finished sacking my groceries, loaded half of them in the cart and just walked away. So I'm just standing there trying to figure out what has happened and expect my cashier to finish up the job...but what does she do? She turns her back to the groceries and waits for ME to clear the rest of my stuff out of the way so that she can get on to the next customer in line. I should have loudly thanked her for her help as I walked away or as my mom suggested, "raised hell" with the manager, but I just took my things and left. For I'm certain that even if I had raised Beelzebub himself in the middle of H.E.B., it would do nothing to change the lazy minds and attitudes of people like these.

I will not include all grocery store workers in this rant because I have worked with and had some wonderful people help me in the past, but they are becoming a rarity in recent years.

Shall I add better customer service in the world to my prayers?

3. Selling dogs on the side of the road

This one gets me every time.

My first instinct when I see those puppies sitting in their crates just feet from the asphalt is to pull over and take every one of them home.

I am a sucker for puppies and kittens...well most any furry animal actually and I hate to see those babies being pawned by breeders like any other roadside junk such as ceramic pots and lawn statues.

But up to this point, I have never taken home an armful of puppies purely because of the amount of money being requested for these animals.

Then there is annoyance of just how many of these sellers there are around here! On any given weekend when the weather is nice, you are sure to find at least half a dozen types of dogs being sold in a one mile stretch of road near my home.

AKC this...purebred that...it's just nonsense.

How is a purebred animal's life any more valuable than the lives of the beloved mutts that I owned as a child? Not to mention the fact that purebreds typically aren't nearly as hardy as mutts are.

I know that in some cases this is how these breeders make a living...but at what expense? Making more dogs just for profit when our rescue operations and shelters are full of "unwanted" animals? I truly find that cruel and heartless.

Please don't get me wrong, I am definitely no PETA member and don't believe that an animal's life should be placed above a human's.

(Of course, I'll do anything I can to avoid hitting an animal with my car...which in my husband's opinion means that I would have us all killed while trying to not hit a squirrel...which is NOT the case...I had complete control of the car. =P)

But animals do have a purpose...food, work, companionship, etc.

And I could understand the breeding of these dogs if they did a specific job that no other type of animal could do or if there were a shortage of companion dogs...but I'm pretty sure that this is not the case.

I think the phrase that most applies in this case is "Waste not, want not".

Life is a precious thing...most definitely for humans, but also for all of God's creatures.

Anyway, if you have read this far and still don't detest me....thanks.

I know some of the things that bother me may seem trivial, but in reality they are all just symptoms of a bigger problem...one that won't go away...sin.

Laziness, disregard for others, greed, devaluing life...these things have always been there, but seem to be more steadily taking over.

It's part of human nature to do these things...which is why we can't let what "feels natural" guide our lives...or we'll end up a bunch of misspelling, lazy-sacking dog-sellers!

'Til we meet again...

The FIRST Haircut

Yeah, I know...some have been wondering when we were gonna get my hippie kid's hair cut finally.

Well let's just say that cutting off some of the sweetest strawberry-blonde ringlets you've ever seen was not an easy task. Most people never got to see just how precious they were since they looked best just after a bath or if I wet them. But as soon as we got in the car to go anywhere, those curls would get crazy messed up in his car seat and therefore most only saw the blah version of his hair.

Here's proof of some of those curls...

But when you see this...

...and this...

...all of that gorgeous hair in it's perfectly uncut and natural glory...

...you HAVE to admit that interfering with that beauty has to be difficult for a mother.

But Jude isn't a girl and I can't let his hair grow out indefinitely...especially since the back of his hair tends to be thicker and longer than the top, ending up with a mullety type thing. AND we live in an area that has strict rules for boys' haircuts once entering school.

So we decided that it was time.

And we would only trust the first cut to the woman that has been cutting Terry's hair (and sometimes mine) for years. She is the highest level cutter at the salon and though we paid much more than anyone should for a toddler's 5-minute haircut, we thought it was worth it for this first time around.

So he wasn't gung-ho about the cape and ripped it off immediately. Then he didn't want to stay in the seat. But like in every other situation where he doesn't want to do something that we want him to do, we just distracted him long enough to make it happen. Fortunately, since it was Fat Tuesday, there were Mardi Gras beads available for distraction. That pretty much did the trick.

So now he looks more like a boy. I obviously didn't let her cut too much off. I do still like the long, shaggy look. But I would like to avoid the comments in stores about the cute "little girl" I'm pushing around in the cart...despite the unmistakably boy outfits he wears.

So, aside from the rocky start with the haircut, he ended up doing pretty well overall. And they gave us a cute little "first haircut" certificate with a tiny bag to hold clippings of his hair.

I held out for over 20 months. It's hard to cut such beautiful hair unless it's necessary...something I think my mom (regarding my hair) and in the case of little boys, Astrid, can completely relate to.

On a totally unrelated note, I have to share Jude's newest development. He has some bristle blocks that he received for Christmas and until now, his interaction with them has usually been limited to watching us build things for him. But for the past few days, I have seen him sit for 15-20 mins or more at a time BUILDING things! He has so much patience with his creations...something I've also noticed while playing with his Mr. Potato Heads (yes, I said heads...as in 3...he has THREE...talk to my husband). But he will sit there and put them together and take them apart and put them together again. My daughter could never sit with something for that long when she was a toddler. She had no patience for such things. Shoot...neither did I. This is something new that I've seen mostly in boys while teaching pre-school. They will sit there with Lego blocks or something similar and just build...over and over again...and some of the most creative things ever at times! I was/am in awe of this behavior. And I'm so glad and amazed to see Jude already devising plans in his head and manipulating things to create something.

This morning though was the first time he made something that was SOMETHING and he knew it! He was sitting there for the longest time playing with those bristle blocks and then all of a sudden came running up to me with his creation...proudly announcing to me "BOAT!". I laughed with excitement for him...for it truly looked like a boat!

So proud of this little boat...

...and this little guy.

Awesome Giveaway!

No, it's not something being given away by me, but it's a giveaway I just stumbled upon.

A local professional photographer who does beautiful work is giving away a free photo session!

I have been SO wanting to have my kids do something like this, but these sessions just cost much more than we're able to afford.
To sign up for the giveaway or just to see her work, go HERE.

For Dad...

You know you are blessed when although you live half an hour away from your parents and usually see them at least once a week, you still get bugged by your dad to update your blog more. =)

You see, being an only child has given me the greatest gift of having parents that are fully attentive to my needs, dreams and day to day boring activities.

But really, what more could I ask for? I am truly grateful that I have two wonderful parents who care what is going on in my life and are willing to drop everything in their lives to help me when needed and offer advice when it is sought. Yes, sometimes the advice does come unsolicited...but it is always sincere and full of good intention and wisdom.So while talking to my mom a bit ago about her surprise Elvis scarf that arrived in the mail for her birthday today (Happy Birthday Ma!), she mentioned that my dad was anxiously awaiting my next blog update. Well, this daddy's girl certainly doesn't want to disappoint. =)

So what's been going on? Well, lots.

There's been the usual occurances of Cecilia drawing and Jude wanting to do everything with Daddy...

(Can I add that this kid (20 months old now) has the most amazing vocabulary?? He also recognizes the entire upper case alphabet and most of the lower case!...Yes...he got his momma's brains...LOL!)

Cecilia also earned a spot in her school's spelling bee, but didn't place this year. We are very proud of her anyway. Below are the 5th grade contestants.


We also were very excited recently by the visit of Terry's sister, Leslie (who I was friends with BEFORE Terry came into my life), and our nephew Ryan. They live in NJ and are only able to come down for a visit a couple of times a year. And because Jude and Ryan are only a month apart in age, we always look forward to the visits to see how they will react to each other. This was the best visit yet in my opinion for the two because they got to really enjoy playing together...and we even got to take Ryan to his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's!

The weekend following Les and Ryan's bittersweet return to Jersey, I was able to attend a girls' getaway with some ladies from church. We had a great time despite the cold weather, but I did get out for a bit and take some pictures. The location of our retreat was a ranch which not only contained the usual cows and horses, but also some exotic animals. Unfortunately the weather kept me from venturing far enough out to get pics of the exotics, but I did check out the VERY old cemetary on the grounds and some of the horses and their donkey friends.

Let's see...last week took us to see the doctor a couple of times.

First, on Monday, my dear graceful Jude attempted to bust his lip, yet again. This time he wasn't so successful. You'd think that would be a good thing, but instead his bottom teeth punched a hole right through the area under his lip. That's right...a hole on the inside AND the outside. Of course when I first picked him up I assumed it was the usual busted lip, but once I saw the cut on the outside...I pretty much freaked out. All at once before my eyes flashed a scene of painful shots and stitches and all kinds of uncomfortableness for my baby. We then spend 10 minutes debating on whether this warranted a trip to the ER or not. In the end we decided to take him to a nearby emergency care center where we were informed that it wasn't bad at all and he would require no stitches. What a relief! He now is almost completely healed. Thank the Lord that it wasn't worse!

Wednesday was then my day to head to the hospital. For the past few months I have been suffering from menorrhagia. Let's just say that when the gyno nurse asks when my last period was, I want to slap her because as I've told the rest of them...let's say um...about September 1st until January 1st. I know it's their protocol to automatically ask that...but please, can we at least check the records and see WHY the patient is there before we ask these questions? Anyway, when they did an ultrasound and biopsy in November it was discovered that I had many polyps in my uterus which was the cause for the bleeding. My options were to have an endometrial ablation and tie my tubes or have a hysterectomy. Since the recovery time for a hysterectomy can be a month, I chose the ablation. I do have a toddler to take care of! The tube tying (tubal ligation) was necessary to prevent pregnancy since after the ablation, it would be impossible for an embryo to attach and/or grow without that endometrial lining. So that's what I had done on the 3rd. Recovery hasn't been too bad and Terry was here until yesterday to do all the lifting and such until I could. I had to see the doctor yesterday though because my bellybutton incision is infected. But it's already looking better.

So no more grandbabies for my parents, but I've made 2 very beautiful and remarkable children. I have so much to be proud of.

So, yes, a lot has been going on, and maybe that was the reason for the delay in my blogging. I do apologize though to those who actually look forward to the updates. I will try to blog a bit more often so that my blogs don't end up being these novel-length monstrosities!

Thanks for reading...thanks for caring.