One Word Meme

Saw this over at Morning Coffee and since I'm still kind of sick, figured...why not?
This is actually challenging for me, because in no way am I a "one word" kind of girl.
When my husband and I attend any sort of gathering where there is an "ice breaker" question that goes something like "Name your favorite....." neither of us is capable of telling one thing. We usually have multiple things, that include side stories...... Some might consider this a personality flaw, but I don't. Life is too rich for "just one thing." (plus, adjectives! I love them so very much!) Still, with this meme, I'll try.

Yourself: thinking
Your partner: warm
Your hair: thick
Your Mother: exceptional
Your Father: tall
Your Favorite Item: cozy
Your dream last night: business
Your Favorite Drink: water
Your Dream Car: paid
Your Dream Home: paid
The Room You Are In: family
Your Ex: none
Your fear: disapproval
Where you Want to be in Ten Years? better
Who you hung out with last night: myself
What You're Not: small
Muffins: yum
One of Your Wish List Items: books
Time: afternoon
The Last Thing You Did: comfort
What You Are Wearing: pajamas
Your favorite weather: moderate
Your Favorite Book: Outlander
Last thing you ate: cereal
Your Life: full
Your mood: sniffly
Your Best Friends: family
What are you thinking about right now: much
Your car: Suburban
What are you doing at the moment: computing
Your summer: spent
Relationship status: relational
What is on your tv: nothing
What is the weather like: warm
When is the last time you laughed: today

Current Tally

1 mother sick with a cold for 3 days running
2 kids with fevers
4 kids with coughs
1 kid that threw up a little while ago
1 dad that is gone to work.....

Good times.

The Bad Perm Story

My mom reminded me in a comment for the last post about the bad perm she gave me. So, yes my dears, you get to hear about it.

Once upon a time I was a happy child with long brown hair, and I wasn't concerned about my looks one way or the other. I ran around all summer wearing a bathing suit made by my mother (and my little sister had matching suits), never combed my hair, played all day, and was content.

But my mother wasn't content. No sirree.... One day she started leaning on me. She wanted to give me a perm. Of course, being about 10 years old, I didn't really even know what a perm was. She explained that it would make my hair curly, and somehow she considered this to be important, essential, even, to the overall quality of my life and my appearance.

Well, I didn't want the perm. I told her that. She kept bugging me about it. Begging me, in fact. The Perm! The Perm! It was all about the perm with her.

Eventually, in a desperate attempt to force me over the edge, she told me that she wanted to just try out the perm. Just a try! To see how it would look! And, like some cheesy available-on-TV-only product, if I wasn't Completely Satisfied, she would get my hair straightened. Yep! Just like that! Straightened back out, goodbye to the perm, hello regular hair.

So, being a typical child that believes her mother would not lie, I relented to the perm. Because I mainly just wanted to get her off of my back and stop having to listen to the nagging about the perm. I didn't want it, and I knew it wasn't anything I wanted, but figured she could do it, I could prove that in fact I did NOT like it, get my hair straightened back out, and go on with my life.

She whipped out her at-home perm kit (this was probably 1981) and went to work coiling my long dark hair into the odd little rollers, and polluting my virgin scalp with chemicals.

After a couple hours of stinky perm torture, the rollers were taken out and I burst into tears at the horror scene that was my head. Upon my ultra-thick, 70's mega-layer-cut hair was a mass of tight pin curls, turning me into the only white kid in my neighborhood with an afro!

Immediately I told my mom, blotchy-faced with tears streaming down my cheeks, "OK. I've tried it, and I hate it. I want to get it straightened!!"

And she was standing there in the corner of the kitchen, looking at the wreck she had made of my hair, knowing she had made a Big Mistake, and had the nerve to say to me, "Well....we can't get it straightened right away.....we have to wait awhile....You can't do more chemicals on your hair for awhile or it can mess it up worse...."

"How long do we have to wait?!" I asked.

I think the answer she gave me was something along the line of Months.

Have I yet mentioned that I was due to start the school year at a brand new school in about a week??

Yeah. Great.

So, my mother betrayed me, and I had to go to school looking like an afro freak instead of like the normal kid I used to be. I was also sporting horrid big glasses, and two scars on my face (one on the eyebrow, one on the chin) from wiping out in a bad bike acident (20 stitches worth!). As if I didn't have enough going against me, I was now cursed with The Perm From Hell.

She never did offer to get it straightened, either. And my hair holds a perm longer than anybody you know.

So, my mother lied through her teeth to coerce a young child to change her hair style, sentencing me to a new, painful awareness of my pitiful looks. The only good things that came from it were probably that I continued to learn how to function at least semi-confidently despite feeling unfashionable or somehow not good enough, and that my mother pretty much swore off meddling with other people's hairdos.

As proof that children do adjust, I can tell you that even though my mom played this one dirty trick on me, I still went on to like her all through my teen years, and she's one of my closest friends still.

There you go, mom! A tribute to one of your less stellar moments of motherhood. Shall I now tell about the time you left me at the gas station as collateral when you accidentally forgot to bring money to pay for gas?? (YES YOU DID!!!)

School Blues

Last night my 10 year old daughter washed her hair and then asked me to braid it all into tiny braids. She wanted to take out the braids this morning and have her hair be all crinkly.

Well, she succeeded.

And she has just returned home from school to tell me this:

"At school today I was called a poodle and asked if this was my bad hair day."

Her 8 year old brother tried to cheer her up by saying, "You don't look like a poodle! You don't even have a tail!"

(The sad thing is, he was totally serious)

Christmas Activities

I've got a few Christmas ideas articles over at my Baby Boutique Blog with lots more to come. Feel free to come check 'em out. :)

Thanksgiving Chin Song

For a good chuckle, check this out.

Mice Creep Me Out

The other day my oldest son told me that he thought there had been a mouse in his room. This didn't come as a complete shock. We've had mice before, and frankly, our home is a mouse paradise. Take six children and two laid-back, somewhat messy parents, and we're probably legendary within mouse lore.

Well, this morning, I saw one. Yep. Right in my family room office. Right behind where I work at the computer for most of the day. Eeegads....they may be small, but they creep me out!

I got out two glue traps that I purchased just the other day, and set them up near where I had seen that little rodent.

It was only a couple of hours before the glue traps did their job, and a nasty gray mouse was stuck.

The one thing I hate more than a mouse about the house, is a squirming, struggling mouse stuck to a glue trap that *I* have to dispose of. The way their bodies look like lurching bags of jello as they try to get free just makes me gag.

Sadly, I know all too well that there is no such thing as "just one mouse." Gah. More glue traps have been set up. Hopefully we won't have any surprise appearance or *evidence* while my husband's parents visit us for Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving Planner

Are you still struggling to figure out what you'll be eating on Thanksgiving? Check this out:
Thanksgiving Planning Guide

Captivating

I've been hearing about John and Stasi Eldredge's book Captivating for quite some time now, and have had it sitting on the top of my fridge waiting for me to get around to read it. As so often happens with things on the top of the refrigerator, I forgot all about it for weeks, and then rediscovered it, at just the right time.

Have you ever heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear"? Well, that has been true for me so many times that I basically expect it now. When my heart and mind are ready to learn something and needing direction, I happen upon a book, sermon, web site, conversation, or something that helps me move along my path and shine some light on the situation.

I read John Eldgredge's book Wild at Heart a few years ago and sort of liked it, and sort of had no idea what on earth he was talking about. The concepts gave me a slight foothold on some new ways of thinking, and a little itch that was never really satisfied. Well, that book was written to men, about men. No wonder I didn't completely understand it. Captivating is for women. And it got my attention right from the start.

One of the first things i loved about this book is when Stasi shares the observation that most messages for women (and especially often in books for Christian women) are these:

1. You are too much.
and
2. You are not enough.

That is So. True.

Everything I've complained about in the books Christian women go for so easily are centered on these two ideas. Everything about you is wrong and going in the wrong direction. All of your desires, thoughts, and feelings are much too big for the little box you should be living in. And, everything that you *should* be doing.....well, you are falling short.

The sad punchline is that by following most of the advice given in these books, women will continue to "fail" these standards. Why? Because the books are lies. And Captivating is giving me some insight into what the truth is.

One major truth that this book discusses is a woman's God-given desire to be captivating. To be loved, adored, desired, admired, and worthy of it all. Wow! So many things that we've been telling ourselves not to want, think about, or need.

I needed this book so much right now. It's been a hard year. After already internalizing many messages in years past that others did not respect or value me in the ways that I would like to be, I took a huge blow this year when someone that I thought I was close to let me know that I was not valuable enough to deserve a part in her life. After 12 years of friendship.

Although I have come to a place of peace with the loss of that relationship, what I haven't been able to come to peace with is the *pain* that comes from knowing that someone I trusted and would have been a loyal friend to for the rest of my life considered me to be disposable. I took the risk of showing my strengths and weaknesses, the good and the painful stuff in me to this person....and she decided that she wasn't interested in being a part of that any more.

Probably most women have experienced this. I had an acquaintance sitting in my living room about a month ago because she was here to pick up her daughter. This woman shared with me a very painful thing that she has gone through this year. During the course of the conversation I asked her if she had a close friend that she could confide in about this stuff. Her answer? Not really. She talks to her sister some, but basically she's had friends that she trusted and then got burned by. She said, "After you get burned a couple of times, it seems to risky to have friends."

So we choose to be alone.

I have felt the same way. It doesn't seem like people have the time to develop relationships, and of those that do, they seem painfully sure to break out hearts. When we marry and have children we know that we will forever be vulnerable to pain in relation to those we are bound to in our family. Pain from something bad happening to one of them, pain of loss when someone dies, or pain if the relationship is difficult or disappointing in some way. But, this is our family. We are bound for better or worse.

With friendships, those are optional. Do we want to sign up for more pain? Do we want to take the risk of being disposable? Do we want to trust someone with our junk, and see if they will still consider us worthy of a piece of their life?

Frankly, no I don't. I don't do well with gut-wrenching pain. I don't do well with people deciding that I'm worthless.

The trick is that for me to not have significant relationships in my life, would cause me to live life as a fraud.

I'm MADE for relationship. I'm a person that longs for deep, abiding relationships. I love meaningful conversation and a meaningful life. For me to purposely insulate myself from the potential pain of relationships would mean I'd have to sell out who I am. But it seems to go hand in hand with disappointment, rejection, and pain.

I'm not done with the book yet, and it is a little bit hard, painful, and sad to read through it. But I think it's a really valuable book for women. Particularly Christian women who have been scolded and scolded and stuffed into some false God Box for most of their life. I may write more about it later after I've finished it.

Have you read Captivating? I'd love to hear your impressions.

Pipe Bomb Fun

My son had fun at a friend's house today....blowing up a "little" pipe bomb. My kid is the one in the red hoodie (no hat).

Long Time No Nuthin

I feel bad--I've basically abandoned this blog! I'm so busy every day working on my businesses that all I would have to say each day is the same thing I said the day before. "Worked hard--more to do."

Things are going well. I am continuing to make improvements on the baby boutique and am trying to add content to my blog over there daily. I guess I have worked myself into a job that will never end.

We're expecting my husband's parents for Thanksgiving next week so I have all the house stuff to do.

We have a mouse about the house, so now I have to try to lessen the appeal of our home, AKA Mouse Paradise, what with all the crumbs, cereal bits, and other goodies all over the place. Good times.

Boring post. Sorry. Goodbye.

Attention Homeschoolers!

There is a completely HUGE and awesome special sale going on right now that I have to tell you about. I am in an egroup for people that self-publish their writing work. One family has had a medical emergency with one of their children this week. So, a different member of the group has put together a gigantic sale of ebook resources, audios, interviews, etc. and all the proceeds are going to the family with the medical emergency. This sale will only be available through Friday noon, so get yours fast, and spread the word!

Tuesday Tip

I've started posting a helpful tip on Tuesday's at the Baby Boutique Blog. Today's top:
How to get blood out of fabric. Everybody should know this one!

Link Exchange

For those of you sweet, pretty, and kind enough to want to help me out, my baby boutique blog can be found at http://www.thebabyboutiqueatwombswindow.com/blog/ . Let me know if you link to it on your blogroll. I will be happy to do the same for you. :)

If any of you want to get involved, I will be looking for contributors to the blog. I will be needing:

-birth stories, breastfeeding stories, any experience stories about motherhood

-product reviews that would be of interest to women that are pregnant or have small children

-funny kid stories

-tips/advice for moms

You can send any of those to me at supermomshealth (at) hotmail.com

Thanky!

Today's the Day! Grand Opening!

Hello!

The day has finally arrived--the Grand Opening of The Baby Boutique at Womb's Window!

There is a TON of stuff on sale, freebies for the first 90 customers, and FREE SHIPPING on all orders in the US!

Go check it out, and if you would be so kind, talk it up on your blogs, egroups, forums, bulletin boards, or whatever you've got!