I decided to create a checklist to help you better understand whether or not you’re an Ordinary Mom. This isn’t the end-all, be-all of ordinariness, of course, but if a few of these sound familiar, you might want to go ahead and hop on the Ordinary bus with me. You Might Be an Ordinary Mom if… You have to move the laundry in order to go to bed. You’ve stashed dirty dishes when company was coming and you didn’t have time to ...
Life & Love
Of Mice and (Wo)Men
I like to pretend that I keep my house in order and that it’s always guest-ready at a moment’s notice. And while we all know that’s a lie, what you may not know is there are times it’s so far away from being guest-ready it would make you cry. Back when CJ and I were newly married, we lived in a cute little bungalow. It had a great sunroom that was surrounded by windows on two sides that looked out over our huge backyard. It was a great little ...
How Are Your Housekeeping Skills?
In the spirit of absolute honesty and full disclosure, I have tell you what happened this morning when I finally ventured out of my bedroom. It's only because we have a sharing, committed relationship that is not based on judgment or one-upmanship that I feel I can share this with you and be so vulnerable. I feel it is my duty to share my warts-and-all life so that others will know they are not alone...or maybe just so you all feel better about ...
Let the Planting Begin…
Over our 19+ years of marriage, MC and I haven't had the best of luck with houses. There was our first house which flooded, attracted both cockroaches and mice, and had wall-to-wall linoleum--in every room. Our second house had the distinction of being only one house away from my sister, but it also came with split level stairs that were tough to navigate while pregnant and herding a toddler, a rabid squirrel that didn't take too well to the fact ...
The Dating Game
Sassy doesn't have her own phone. According to her, she is the only person her age who doesn't have one, but we still aren't giving in. However, she does have friends she would like to talk to sometimes and so I've let her give out my number before so they can call and text on my phone. Apparently I should have been more specific as to how and to whom she gives my number to. Yesterday, I received a "hey" text from a number I didn't recognize. ...
Dear Daddy
I realize it's the day AFTER Father's Day, but is there ever a bad time to praise your daddy? I'm not close enough to hug on my dad on Father's Day, too far away to enjoy a nice dinner with him or offer him a present, and he will never be on Facebook, but what I can do is share with everyone all that he's done for me as I've grown up. There's something different about fathers and daughters. As a little girl I loved my daddy and wanted to grow ...
Last, But Not Least
MC and I are going to camp on Sunday and we are excited. It's a camp for Middle School and High School kids at church so we got Howdy and Bubba signed up. We were asked to be teachers/chaperones and we agreed as long as Sassy could go with us. Now we have our family vacation for the year planned and we didn't even have to take care of transportation, housing, or food! Nice! We had a last minute meeting last night with the youth ministers, ...
The Gospel According to Mom
I just read an article in which Admiral William McRaven, a 36 year Navy Seal, addressed the graduating class at UT Austin and shared life lessons he learned while in the Seals. They were all very good, all sound advice. But I couldn't help but think he missed some vital information. I couldn't fault him since he didn't grow up in the same house as I did, but I want to take a moment to correct the mistake. I'd like to round out his lesson plan ...
Driving Me To Drink
After years of dreaming, months of saving (then spending that savings and having to save it again), hours and hours of online research, and even a trip or two to look at our prospects, we finally bought a new car. But have no fear, it was not a standard, boring business transaction. Oh no, we certainly can't have that. Because if I have to do something like buy a car, it can't be normal. It has to be (all together now) an adventure. Which is ...
The Fair and the Not So Fair
Dilemma: Your children have a day off of school for Fair Day and are given free admission tickets. And while you are looking forward to a family outing, they would rather stay at home and aren't all that revved up about going to a Fair when they know rides aren't on the agenda. What do you do? Solution: You drag them along and tell them they will like it or else. But as a concession to them, you do let them bring along a book. Yes, this is ...