Okay so I have decided to challenge myself again. I had already suggested that I make a daily task list and try to complete it. So, that's my new challenge. I hope to complete my daily task list 30 times by July 4th.
That should give me the chance to goof a few times. And it also gives me, Music Man and Miss Goofy the chance to go to San Francisco and help our closest friends, DolphinLady and The Weather God when they move in June. I may make a list for those days but it will probably be something like this:
1) Wake up and spend 5 minutes trying to figure out where I am
2) Realize that I'm at DolphinLady's to help her move
3) Hide under the covers hoping it's just a bad dream (I really don't like moving much)
4) Give up on the fantasy of not helping someone move and drag my lazy butt out of bed
5) Pester Music Man, DolphinLady, Miss Goofy, The Weather God, and our other friends helping in the move until they regret me coming to help in the hope that I will never have to help friends move again
6) Put an ice pack on my black eye (I'm pretty sure one of them will punch me)
7) Give up on number 5 when Music Man reminds me we may need help moving someday
8) Try to be as helpful as possible while secretly planning to make them help us move
9) Eat dinner
10) Go to bed
DolphinLady, you probably shouldn't have read this post. Sorry. I'm just kidding. Love you lots!
Back to my earlier ramblings, I will try to do a daily list and complete it 30 times in the next I think it's 38 days. Something like that. But it will have to start tomorrow as our water was shut off while they fixed a broken pipe earlier and it has just totally thrown my routine off. But that's a whole different story.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
My vacation
I love the word vacation. It invokes thoughts of sleeping late, seeing goofy things, bad restaurants, and motels. And lots of driving. If I never see the inside of my car again...
However, we did go on vacation. We drove from California to Oklahoma. It was a long drive. And by long drive I mean, have you ever been through New Mexico? It goes on forever. It is around 390 miles across. I can't remember exactly, and my atlas is in the car. You do get to see such sights as Tecumcari, Santa Rosa, and Albuquerque. I know there are towns west of Albuquerque, but I can't remember what they are. I will say that Flagstaff is probably the most beautiful town I've ever seen. With all those wonderful pines trees around, it's not what you expect when you think of Arizona. I know Music Man wants me to say that his hometown was the most beautiful, and while it was pretty, Flagstaff was just magical to me. Could be because for some reason I didn't remember it was at something like 7700 ft.
In any event, I do want to share one story to give some background information and then a conversation that occurred in the car on the way to Oklahoma. We were still in California and it set the tone for the trip. My grandmother took my mom and uncles on trips to see historical markers all over the state of California when they were kids. She took my sister and I on trips to see many of the same historical markers. On these trips we would invariably pass Joshua trees. And invariably Grandma would say something like, "Look kids, a Joshua tree, it's a cousin of the lily." Now my grandma has a wonderful sense of humor and we have teased her about that for years. In fact, when Grandma, Miss Goofy and I took a trip down the mountain to the nearest big city, Miss Goofy pointed out Joshua trees every 5 or 10 minutes and said, "look a Joshua tree, it's a cousin of the lily" and Grandma would giggle. So, we're out in the middle of nowhere California, and I was feeling goofy and excited about the trip. So, I said while pointing out the window, "look a Joshua tree, it's a cousin of the lily." We all giggled. A moment later, Music Man points out the window and says "Look a call box," Miss Goofy doesn't miss a beat she pipes up with "It's a cousin of the phone." We howled. Grandma will love that story.
We did have a purpose in going to Oklahoma. Music Man's father passed away in November of 2005. I embarrassed to say that before now we either had the money to go back and bury his cremains or we had the time to go back. It took until now for us to have both the time and the money. We did however finally have both time and money for the trip. We buried him at the foot of Music Man's mother's grave. Music Man placed his father in the hole and he was even allowed to bury him himself. It was very healing for Music Man. He felt much more at peace after it was over.
I got to meet some of Music Man's cousins and we got to spend a lot of time with his uncle and aunt. I felt so welcomed and loved right from the start. What a wonderful family. I am so blessed to be a part of them.
There was one day on the trip where the weather was hot and humid. It was uncomfortable, made only worse by the fact that my hay fever went crazy. I hadn't had an attack like that since I was a kid and lived in the San Gabriel Valley. Come to think of it I hadn't felt heat and humidity like that since then either. I didn't mind the hot and humid, but I really didn't like the hay fever. In fact the hot and humid was kind of nice. Reminded me of my childhood and those were happy memories.
Well, that's about all I have to say for now. I'll post more about our trip as I think of it and I'll try to figure out how to post some pictures.
However, we did go on vacation. We drove from California to Oklahoma. It was a long drive. And by long drive I mean, have you ever been through New Mexico? It goes on forever. It is around 390 miles across. I can't remember exactly, and my atlas is in the car. You do get to see such sights as Tecumcari, Santa Rosa, and Albuquerque. I know there are towns west of Albuquerque, but I can't remember what they are. I will say that Flagstaff is probably the most beautiful town I've ever seen. With all those wonderful pines trees around, it's not what you expect when you think of Arizona. I know Music Man wants me to say that his hometown was the most beautiful, and while it was pretty, Flagstaff was just magical to me. Could be because for some reason I didn't remember it was at something like 7700 ft.
In any event, I do want to share one story to give some background information and then a conversation that occurred in the car on the way to Oklahoma. We were still in California and it set the tone for the trip. My grandmother took my mom and uncles on trips to see historical markers all over the state of California when they were kids. She took my sister and I on trips to see many of the same historical markers. On these trips we would invariably pass Joshua trees. And invariably Grandma would say something like, "Look kids, a Joshua tree, it's a cousin of the lily." Now my grandma has a wonderful sense of humor and we have teased her about that for years. In fact, when Grandma, Miss Goofy and I took a trip down the mountain to the nearest big city, Miss Goofy pointed out Joshua trees every 5 or 10 minutes and said, "look a Joshua tree, it's a cousin of the lily" and Grandma would giggle. So, we're out in the middle of nowhere California, and I was feeling goofy and excited about the trip. So, I said while pointing out the window, "look a Joshua tree, it's a cousin of the lily." We all giggled. A moment later, Music Man points out the window and says "Look a call box," Miss Goofy doesn't miss a beat she pipes up with "It's a cousin of the phone." We howled. Grandma will love that story.
We did have a purpose in going to Oklahoma. Music Man's father passed away in November of 2005. I embarrassed to say that before now we either had the money to go back and bury his cremains or we had the time to go back. It took until now for us to have both the time and the money. We did however finally have both time and money for the trip. We buried him at the foot of Music Man's mother's grave. Music Man placed his father in the hole and he was even allowed to bury him himself. It was very healing for Music Man. He felt much more at peace after it was over.
I got to meet some of Music Man's cousins and we got to spend a lot of time with his uncle and aunt. I felt so welcomed and loved right from the start. What a wonderful family. I am so blessed to be a part of them.
There was one day on the trip where the weather was hot and humid. It was uncomfortable, made only worse by the fact that my hay fever went crazy. I hadn't had an attack like that since I was a kid and lived in the San Gabriel Valley. Come to think of it I hadn't felt heat and humidity like that since then either. I didn't mind the hot and humid, but I really didn't like the hay fever. In fact the hot and humid was kind of nice. Reminded me of my childhood and those were happy memories.
Well, that's about all I have to say for now. I'll post more about our trip as I think of it and I'll try to figure out how to post some pictures.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Expectations and Preconceptions
I've been doing a lot of thinking about my choice to be a housewife. I'm a second generation housewife and stay-at-home mom. I am glad I made the decision to be at home with my daughter. I enjoy being a housewife. My husband works hard every day so that I can stay at home. We don't drive brand new cars, we don't have a huge house, we don't take lavish vacations, and we don't go out to nice restaurants every night. We make sacrifices for me to stay home. We make sacrifices to homeschool our daughter.
I didn't complete my college degree but, I have taken some college classes. I have a certificate in accounting and have worked as a bookkeeper/manager of a flower shop. I've also worked as an assistant manager at a hotel. I'm intelligent, professional and personable. Yet, I choose to stay at home. I'm not the best housekeeper, I burn dinner occasionally, and sometimes I get distracted and we don't do as much schoolwork as we should. I don't always feel successful. And yet I don't want to work outside my home.
Which brings me to another point. My mother suffered for years from my grandparents expectations and preconceptions. They figured that because she did well in music and foreign language classes that she should use her gifts and find fulfillment in a career. Both my grandparents are highly educated with master's degrees. Grandma taught for 20 years, and Grandpa was one of the most highly sought after machinists ever. They worked hard.
Grandpa worked nights and went to school during the day. He earned his degree and he was a pastor. Grandma was a pastor's wife (with all that entails), worked, went to school, and raised 3 kids. Grandma graduated with "Highest Honors", not "Honors", "Highest Honors".
These 2 hard working people raised my mom, who stayed at home with 3 kids of her own. She disappointed my grandparents. She had an incredible ear for music and foreign language. She took 4 years of Spanish and 2 years of French while in high school. She won the Bank of America award for foreign language. She studied piano from the time she was 8 and after about 12 was mostly self-taught. In college, she studied sign language. She was fluent in 4 languages (including English) at one time. When she graduated high school she could have gone on to college and studied foreign languages. She could have gone on to work as an interpreter for a large corporation, in the government, for the courts, or just about anywhere. Instead she chose to work for a small department store. She started to write to my dad who was in Viet Nam at the time. When he came home, they started to date and it wasn't long before they were married. My dad worked hard and my mom stayed home with us kids.
She took a lot of flak from people for her choice. People thought she didn't really work or that she was lazy. I even thought that at times. People said that she didn't have any ambition. Maybe she didn't, but it was still her choice to be at home with us kids. She found fulfillment at home with us. She didn't regret staying at home. Not even when my dad died. She wished she had more education and could find work easier, but she didn't regret her choice. A lot of feminists say that she wasted her life. That she could have done so much more with her life. Personally, I'm glad she wasted her life. I never saw it that way. I saw a mom who was home when my friends had a problem. I saw my mom talk with the neighborhood teens when their moms were at work. I saw someone who opened her home to all these kids everyday. Kids who would rather hang out at our house most of the time because she was there. I saw her help a boy who had fallen out of the back of a pick up. No one else was around and the people who were driving the truck were just going to pick him up and drive off. She stopped them and possibly saved his life. I saw her help a boy who was bit by a dog in the neighborhood. She took him to the school where they contacted his parents and he was able to get the medical help he needed.
My mom could have had a wonderful career out in the "real" world. I could too. She chose to stay at home. I do too. To all the feminists who criticize us: You're welcome. We're the women who talk to your kids while you work, we're the women your kids go to when there's a problem, we're the ones who rush your kid to the school when they've been bit by a dog or fell in the front of our house, we're the ones who know what the test in English covered, how they did, and we probably quizzed them before the test, we're the ones you call lazy, we're the ones who make your kids a snack and ours are the houses they hang out at. Why? Because we're there.
I didn't complete my college degree but, I have taken some college classes. I have a certificate in accounting and have worked as a bookkeeper/manager of a flower shop. I've also worked as an assistant manager at a hotel. I'm intelligent, professional and personable. Yet, I choose to stay at home. I'm not the best housekeeper, I burn dinner occasionally, and sometimes I get distracted and we don't do as much schoolwork as we should. I don't always feel successful. And yet I don't want to work outside my home.
Which brings me to another point. My mother suffered for years from my grandparents expectations and preconceptions. They figured that because she did well in music and foreign language classes that she should use her gifts and find fulfillment in a career. Both my grandparents are highly educated with master's degrees. Grandma taught for 20 years, and Grandpa was one of the most highly sought after machinists ever. They worked hard.
Grandpa worked nights and went to school during the day. He earned his degree and he was a pastor. Grandma was a pastor's wife (with all that entails), worked, went to school, and raised 3 kids. Grandma graduated with "Highest Honors", not "Honors", "Highest Honors".
These 2 hard working people raised my mom, who stayed at home with 3 kids of her own. She disappointed my grandparents. She had an incredible ear for music and foreign language. She took 4 years of Spanish and 2 years of French while in high school. She won the Bank of America award for foreign language. She studied piano from the time she was 8 and after about 12 was mostly self-taught. In college, she studied sign language. She was fluent in 4 languages (including English) at one time. When she graduated high school she could have gone on to college and studied foreign languages. She could have gone on to work as an interpreter for a large corporation, in the government, for the courts, or just about anywhere. Instead she chose to work for a small department store. She started to write to my dad who was in Viet Nam at the time. When he came home, they started to date and it wasn't long before they were married. My dad worked hard and my mom stayed home with us kids.
She took a lot of flak from people for her choice. People thought she didn't really work or that she was lazy. I even thought that at times. People said that she didn't have any ambition. Maybe she didn't, but it was still her choice to be at home with us kids. She found fulfillment at home with us. She didn't regret staying at home. Not even when my dad died. She wished she had more education and could find work easier, but she didn't regret her choice. A lot of feminists say that she wasted her life. That she could have done so much more with her life. Personally, I'm glad she wasted her life. I never saw it that way. I saw a mom who was home when my friends had a problem. I saw my mom talk with the neighborhood teens when their moms were at work. I saw someone who opened her home to all these kids everyday. Kids who would rather hang out at our house most of the time because she was there. I saw her help a boy who had fallen out of the back of a pick up. No one else was around and the people who were driving the truck were just going to pick him up and drive off. She stopped them and possibly saved his life. I saw her help a boy who was bit by a dog in the neighborhood. She took him to the school where they contacted his parents and he was able to get the medical help he needed.
My mom could have had a wonderful career out in the "real" world. I could too. She chose to stay at home. I do too. To all the feminists who criticize us: You're welcome. We're the women who talk to your kids while you work, we're the women your kids go to when there's a problem, we're the ones who rush your kid to the school when they've been bit by a dog or fell in the front of our house, we're the ones who know what the test in English covered, how they did, and we probably quizzed them before the test, we're the ones you call lazy, we're the ones who make your kids a snack and ours are the houses they hang out at. Why? Because we're there.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Change of name
Okay so in a previous post I called my dad "the grouchy old man", it has been pointed out to me that we actually call him "the cranky old man" and as such we can't call him "gomy" and that "comy" is what they used to call communists and he might object to that. So, instead we'll just call him either "the cranky old man" or "Mr. Cranky". I'm not sure which yet, possibly both. We'll see which one I type more often. Okay, time to put away the laundry. Have a great day.
How I spent my afternoon
Well, I should have spent it doing laundry and packing to go on vacation. I couldn't stand it any longer though. I went through my husband's inbox for his gmail account. If he hasn't emailed you, it's probably because he had over 900 unread emails in his inbox. He had several emails from 2006. I have hated to send him email cause he never reads them, unless I send them to his work email. Well, after going through all of them, I have sent them all to his "all mail" folder. If he needs something I hope he knows where to look. I thought about organizing them for him, but I don't think I want to spend the next 6 weeks doing that.
On another note, I am getting laundry done for our trip. We are driving halfway across the country so that we can finally bury his father. He's only been gone for 2 and a half years. (I am really glad we had him cremated, otherwise EWW!) I know it's been a long time since he passed, but we're finally going. It should be an interesting trip. I'll finally get to see where he lived as a little kid and where he spent his summers growing up. I'll get to meet a lot of relatives. And we'll finally have closure on his father's death. Probably one of the most emotionally draining months of my life was the one following his death.
I did meet my challenge and cooked dinner at home for the three weeks I aimed for. With the exception of the night I made stuffed peppers and the smell of them made me sick. Oh and the night the meat didn't thaw in time. I've tried hard to be good about that one.
I'm thinking my next challenge will be to make a daily list and work to finish it each day. The most important things on the list are vacuuming and sweeping the floors, with long-haired pets even missing one day makes the floor look really bad. However that won't start until after Memorial Day as I will be on vacation. I haven't been on vacation in about 4 years. When we went and spent 5 days at Disneyland. That was a really fun vacation and I'd love to do it again, but not this year.
Well, the laundry won't fold itself and I need to find a bag to pack some stuff in so, until after my vacation: Have a great day!
On another note, I am getting laundry done for our trip. We are driving halfway across the country so that we can finally bury his father. He's only been gone for 2 and a half years. (I am really glad we had him cremated, otherwise EWW!) I know it's been a long time since he passed, but we're finally going. It should be an interesting trip. I'll finally get to see where he lived as a little kid and where he spent his summers growing up. I'll get to meet a lot of relatives. And we'll finally have closure on his father's death. Probably one of the most emotionally draining months of my life was the one following his death.
I did meet my challenge and cooked dinner at home for the three weeks I aimed for. With the exception of the night I made stuffed peppers and the smell of them made me sick. Oh and the night the meat didn't thaw in time. I've tried hard to be good about that one.
I'm thinking my next challenge will be to make a daily list and work to finish it each day. The most important things on the list are vacuuming and sweeping the floors, with long-haired pets even missing one day makes the floor look really bad. However that won't start until after Memorial Day as I will be on vacation. I haven't been on vacation in about 4 years. When we went and spent 5 days at Disneyland. That was a really fun vacation and I'd love to do it again, but not this year.
Well, the laundry won't fold itself and I need to find a bag to pack some stuff in so, until after my vacation: Have a great day!
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