Responsibility Sucks

Literally. Sucks like a vacuum.

Alternate titles for this post:
A: That's what I get for _____.
B. Another case for baldness.

Pictured is my to-do list for this week. They are semi-big projects, the idea being I would plan to do 2 or 3 of these items each day and by the end of the week have the house in perfect shape for Chris and Leah's return. Really, I wanted to take the week off, too, and visit with friends, watch movies all night, and improve my guitar hero skilz in the privacy of my basement.

I'm thinking Disney World or Las Vegas would have been a lot more fun than what I ended up with. Responsibility. Choosing to stay home and make money instead of spend it. Choosing to clean the car, mop the kitchen floor, cut the grass (ugh!), and heaven forbid change the lightbulbs without anyone telling me it was the right thing to do. (For the record, I refuse to change lightbulbs when Chris is home.) So that's what I've done all week. I spent all day Saturday in the yard. I put away laundry and did the dishes (but those ones keep re-appearing on my checklist). I actually prepared my Sunday lesson the day before instead of during Sunday School. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes to take 24 hours to prepare instead of 45 minutes!

But alas, my comedy of errors began on Tuesday.

1. I cleaned out the fridge. I mean, take out all the food and wash the shelves and scrub the walls inside and out. I moved the whole thing and retrieved half of the alphabet from underneath it. Then as I was washing a shelf it spontaneously shattered into a million pieces. In the sink and the drain. That took an extra 20 minutes to clean up. That's what I get for cleaning out the fridge (see alternate blog title A). Cleaning the fridge wasn't even on my to do list. (PS--do you ever write stuff on your to-do list that you have already done just so that you can cross it out?)

2. While vacuuming a bedroom, I accidentally sucked up a sock. That took 30 minutes and some disassembling of the vacuum to undo. That's what I get for vacuuming.

3. Speaking of vacuuming, I moved all the furniture out of the living room and the family room to do the job right and realized that we already have traffic patterns after only living here a year. So I decided while all the couches are in the kitchen, I might as well go rent a carpet shampooer.

4. When I took out the garbage, some of the broken glass spilled out onto the stairs (see bullet number 1). I guess was I going to vacuum the stairs anyways.

5. Pour the dirty water from the rental carpet cleaner into the sink. Sink is clogged. Disposal is frozen. It's because it has glass in there. (Refer to bullet # 1) Tomorrow I have to take apart the disposal and get the glass out. That wasn't on my to-do list either.

6. Pour the dirty water from the rental carpet cleaner into the bathtub. Now I have to clean the bathtub.

7. Rental carpet cleaner stops working because the spinning brushes are caked in hair. My hair. (See alternate title B)

8. Laugh out loud and write a blog post about it. That's not on my to-do list, but I'm willing to make sacrifices.

I'm tired.

Samuel's Sentances

It's just me and Samuel this week--Chris and Leah are visiting family in Pensacola and Orlando. It has been interesting to observe how Samuel is different when he is the only kid around and gets all the attention. I notice so many things about him that I don't notice when there are two kids. On the other hand, I can't always understand what he says, and Leah is not here to translate for me (she really does translate!) Here are some of my favorite things that Samuel has said lately.

Mom: What are you drinking?
Samuel: I'm drinking water.

M: Let's go have some breakfast.
S: Chicken nuggets.
M: No, how about we have some cereal or mush.
S: Mush with sugar on it! (sooger)

M: What color is that? (Trying to see which color he will pick of several on a blanket pattern)
S: Polka-dot.

M: Would you like water or milk?
S: Water. Milk. Milkshake.

S: I hurt me right here. (pointing and bringing the offending appendage for a kiss better)

S: Mmmm. It's yum.

S: I no want kisses.

So that's how it goes...

I learned this song at Girl Scout Camp one year, but I could never remember more than one verse and the chorus. I still sing it every time I make cookies. So today (while eating my melty cookies and a glass of milk) I googled it to find out if it is a real song. Here are the lyrics:

They're made outta sugar, and butter and flour
You can bake 'em in the oven 'bout a quarter of an hour
But the thing that gives them, their magical power,
Are the Chocolate Chips inside
Boom Boom Boom

CHORUS:
Chocolate Chip Cookies, You gotta have more
You can bake 'em in the oven Or buy them at the store
But whatever you do Have them waiting at the door,
And I'll love ya till I die
Boom Boom Boom

You can't have one, You can't have two
Once ya start a munchinThere's a nothin you can do
So clean off your plate And eat the crumbs too
And go out and buy some more
Boom Boom Boom

Repeat Chorus

And when I die I don't want wings
I don't want a halo Or a harp that sings
Give me a book, a fire, And someone who brings me
Chocolate chip cookies all day
Boom Boom Boom

Repeat Chorus

And here is a "Music Video" so you can hear the tune. I have to say, this version is a little cheesy and if I were taking a picture of the inside of my oven, I would clean it first. (And what is up with pictures of Whoopi Goldberg?)

Mother's day paper chain

1. For my Young Women's lesson today, I taught about keeping family history records. I am the link (and each young woman, for that matter) that joins past generations to future generations, and I demonstrated this with a paper chain. Then I shared some gems from Grandma Helen's book, the life story she printed a few years ago. I was demonstrating that the lessons taught by telling her life story are a treasure to me and my children because of the things we can learn from her, about her, and through the gospel testimony shared therein. It was a great Mother's day activity for me to read her book all morning and try to decide which stories to share. (And I needed to shed some worthwhile tears, of course!)

2. Today as I sat in Sacrament meeting, I noticed several familiar things that reminded me of my mother. Leah sat on my lap playing with my necklace and batting at my earrings. It reminded me of sitting on my mother's lap and doing the same when I was a child. I can picture her necklaces. Then Leah layed her head on my shoulder and I twirled her hair in circles around her ear. I always loved it when my mom did that, and now I notice Leah reaching for my hand and placing it on her ear. I will probably start picking through Leah's hair looking for lice some day, something I made my mother do for years after having head lice the summer before 5th grade. (Although I certainly will try to avoid a lice infestation...) Interesting what little things I picked up. Of course, there are big things, too many to name right now.

3. And for a little something from the one who first made me a mother. Today while Leah played with a toy train I heard her say, "This train can be INvisible and it can be OUT of visible." It amazes me her rationality with language!

As only a four year old can, she has quite an imagination. She thinks up all kinds of "What if" scenarios all the time. The other day, this is what she came up with: "Mom, what would happed if a person pooped in the street?" I responded that they would probably get in trouble by the police and could maybe go to jail. Then she asked "What would happen if a dog or a cat pooped in the street?" And I said "Nothing!"

And tonight she was playing with the magnetic letters on the fridge, asking me to pronounce the cominations that she came up with. "What does this word say?" I respond, attempting to pronounce phonetically "mosgrajkfi." "What does it mean?" "It's not a word, honey, it doesn't mean anything." Then she started singing a song about her made up words. It's the tune of "Are you sleeping" and it consists of letters, followed by "That spells ____." Well today her song was "Mosgrajkfi, Mosgrajkfi, That spells nothing, that spells nothing."

What moments have I provided to her that will permeate her childhood and be remembered when she is a mother?

(Pictured: $3 well spent at the dollar store.)

Medicine Cabinet Exiles

Now I have nothing to give my kids if they get a fever or a runny nose. Better hit Walgreens.