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Showing posts from January, 2011

Let's Discuss

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What is a clean house? How do you define 'clean' in your life and in your home? How do you accomplish it? Do you accomplish it? Do you feel as if you're failing or succeeding? Let's discuss.

Morals and Literature

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  Cannwin, Since you enjoy writing and You just mentioned Twilight I have a question that I would like to know your thoughts on. Do you think your writing should be a reflection of your morals & values? For example Stephenie Meyer who wrote Twilight clearly does not portray in her books, in my opinion, Mormon values. i.e. Bella is constantly trying to seduce Edward. Bella does not care if they are married. etc. I think God gave us talents and gifts to use wisely and do good with. I asked my brother-in-law, who enjoys writing, if he thinks his work should portray his values and he said no because it's fiction and fantasy. But look at all the good C.S. Lewis has done with his literature because he did incorporate his values in his work. What are your thoughts. -Gr8Life  I'm of two minds on this one. Firstly, I think it is the obligation of any writer to do their best. I think the power of fine writing far outweighs the power of 'good' writing (good as in

Morning Loves

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I miss the days when I didn't have to send my children off to school. I miss being able to ease my morning grumpiness away with cuddles on the couch and kisses on the cheeks. The days where I could while away my mornings with the cozy warmth of my babies wrapped in my arms. Now when I wake up grouchy it's only exacerbated by the shouting and the threatening and the whining and arguing until my orneriness has quadrupled in size. Now I get mornings where I send my kids off for their day feeling bad about all the negative things I've left planted in their little brains and I wish for the days when they were still all mine to hold and love and adore. But now my life is 'clean your room!' and 'flush the toilet' and 'stop yelling at him.' I really, really miss my cuddle bugs and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to get them back.

True Me Tuesday

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I've been slowly acquiring some new, nice clothes (one clearance sale at a time) and I must say I'd forgotten how much of a difference nice clothes can make. It's been quite a while since I spent any time in a clothing store (for myself) and most of my 'law school' wardrobe has come from Wal-Mart. But not lately and it seems to have made a difference. I feel so much more feminine when I like what I wear. I feel like putting on some light lipstick and doing my hair a bit. I've been really amazed at how refreshing it's been to feel pretty --even in a pair of sweat pants or a hoodie. Also it's nice not to have to dig through my drawers and grumble every single morning. I can just grab and know that whatever I pick will look nice, without alteration. I think I've learned a great lesson about myself and perhaps about looking nice in general. Looking pretty takes keeping up with your wardrobe. On that note, today Remewin has her 18 month old Dr.&#

Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso

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In reference to my recent announcement of Ralexwin's mobilization to Texas I have received several inquiries as to why I wasn't going to go with him. So today I thought I'd talk to you about my aversion to all things El Paso. But first a question. Have you ever been to El Paso? I once heard Ralexwin's Commander say 'Ft. Bliss is an example of the military trying to be funny.' El Paso makes Phoenix look like an oasis in the desert. The first time I ever visited that city on the border I was coming in to say goodbye to Ralexwin before he left for Iraq. With two babies in the back seat I drove over a slight rise in the ground to see a great city crawling across the landscape before me. Houses were topped by houses were topped by more houses all the way up the sides of the hills in every direction. I was shocked and exclaimed out loud "It looks like a foreign country." Little did I know in that moment how true my statement was, because as you

Domestic Tranquility

I am sitting here at the children's laptop--the one that barely works and is missing 8 keys (including the space bar), the one that requires us to hook up a keyboard to it just to use that you can't move lest the plug falls out-- whilst I type as fast as I can before the Mischievite decides he wants to watch a movie. Ralexwin has taken my laptop down to the computer doctor to get it fixed. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have it back below my loving fingers. Our home is in great need of some technological updates. Our TV is missing it's power button. Our portable DVD player skips so bad you might as well not watch a movie (I'm not sure why we haven't chucked the thing yet), we don't even have one of those adaptors for the new TV channels. But if I can have my computer back I'll cease to complain... well, until we graduate then I'll be sure to drop plenty of hints about upgrades. None of that is why I braved the kids computer today. No.

Gone Quiet

A few days ago the kids knocked over my laptop and bent the charger plug in. Today I broke the plug completely. I have approximately 1 hour of battery life before this little lady is down for the count. This means I will probably be out of commission on the blog until I find myself a new charger and the money to buy it. Since I am currently without a book I am sure this won't be that long. Perhaps a day or two. If it's longer, you'll know why. <3 Cannwin

What Do You Think?

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Do you ever wonder what you would look like from someone else's perspective? I do. Me--in the red shirt. In fact the other day I was with my friend and we were talking about just that thing. I was telling her about how I recently saw a picture with me in the background and, without realizing it was myself, wondered aloud 'Whose that in the red shirt?' It was one of the only times I've seen myself as someone else might have. So I think it's fun and interesting to find out how others describe me. Fast forward to this morning and me perusing through my blog roll. I have a dear friend that lives in England and writes Regency Romance novels. Today on her blog she began with a description of my sister and I. I was pleasantly amused by what she had to say. "One of the blogs I follow is Literary Soundtrack . It’s written by two sisters who are voracious readers (as well as talented writers). If readers were dinosaurs I’d be a brontosaurus, the big herb

Should I Dub Monday Grouchy Day?

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Oi! Someone remind me what the joy in children is! I woke up in the middle of the night last night to run to the lou and do you know what I found? Three children huddled around my laptop playing on the internet. "What time is it?" I mumbled incoherently. Silence. This, of course, woke me up. "What time is it guys?" I said in my mother voice. A quiet, "4:23." "Get back in your rooms right now." Two boys scampered off. One little girl resisted. "Vicbowin." I warned, "1.... 2....." I walked over to her and slammed the computer shut. She scampered, wailing at the injustice. I threatened bodily injury if she woke the baby or touched my computer again without permission. Then crawled back in bed. A little while later Ralexwin gets up to go to the lou and repeat the process. Except with alot more excuses. "I forgot she told me not to touch the computer!" "I didn't realize it was only 5:00A

YouTube

Do you have favorites on YouTube? Do you even go to YouTube? I go there a lot to find things, especially when I'm trying to come up with a post for Literary Soundtrack . Anyway, since today I can't come up with one tiny thing to blog about--and anything I do come up with is quickly knocked aside by the Mischievite standing next to me and repeating (broken record style) "You done wif you blog yet?" So here's 5 of my favorite YouTube video's (for when you have some time today): Star Wars via a 4 year old Cake or Death Lost Luggage West Wing Parody English Interpretation of an American Retirement And just because it's a fun video (but won't embed): Dancing at the Movies

Grouchy

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Do you ever have those days when you just wake up and think 'Gah'? Some days I wake up and I honestly wish I was a hermit. It doesn't make sense really. I have all these things to enjoy in life, but some days I look at my beautiful children smiling up at me, my sweet husband coming in from running, all the nice emails from people I know and I just glower. I glare and mutter and wish I could go back to bed and wake up on another morning in a quiet little cottage with ivy climbing up the walls by a small pond in a big forest. There would be a warm fire burning on an open hearth and books would line every corner of the tiny space. And there would be nothing but the crackling logs and the chirping birds to disturb me. No sense what-so-ever. Because I know I hate being away from those I love. I know how bored I get when I'm all alone. I know how lazy I get when I read to much and how I let my self deteriorate at a rapid rate when I have a book in hand. Still,

Dear:

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Dear Silver Car that parked on my street last week: Sorry if that dent is new. Maybe next time don't park directly across from my driveway. Sincerely, Huge Silver Truck **** Dear Similac: The recall on your toddler formula was like three months ago. How long does it really take you to resupply? Sincerely, Mom of a hungry toddler. **** Dear Director's of the movie Salt, Dumb, dumb, dumb ending. Sincerely, Annoyed Patron **** Dear Oven, When I set you at 300* for an hour expecting you to warm up the food you're holding I would appreciate it if you took the hint. Thanks, Frazzled Chef **** Dear LDS Omaha, Nebraska Mission, I get the reasoning behind the guys not being able to come in my house unless my husband is home. But when it's 5* outside and they insist on standing on my porch for 15+ minutes because said spouse is late I begin to wonder if there isn't a line that needs to be decisively drawn in the sand--er snow. Sinc

What Women Do

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Mischievite and skinny me. My friend and I were sitting around the other night discussing not having our husbands around. Which I suppose is an odd conversation typically but Ralexwin was gone for the weekend to play Army and I was musing over him dying on the road home. I do that a lot.... contemplate what I would do if my husband died. So we were talking about just that--the loss of our spouses. Then the conversation turned a little and we began to discuss the crazy things women do to themselves. We came up with three. 1) Contemplate their husbands deaths and what they would do to carry on. 2) Contemplate their children's deaths and what they would do to carry on. 3) Contemplate being attacked in their own home by a complete stranger and what they would do to get away. i.e. the 'escape plan.' Then we started wondering if it was odd behavior on our part or if most women did those things. So, today I thought we'd discuss this. Do you have a carry on pl

What's New For 2011

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Twenty-Eleven... who knew!? Eleven years ago half the world was convinced they were going to be thrown back to the dark ages Y2K style. Ten years ago we thought we were going to be thrown back to the dark ages Bin Laden style. Then it was the Axis of Evil and nuclear war followed by the economy and another Depression. I'm seeing a pattern here and I have to wonder, do we want to be thrown back to the Dark Ages? We seem to find some sort of masochistic thrill in imagining the end of all things. To many movies I think. But! Here we are. Eleven years further down the road and all those boxes of supplies we have stored up will need to be rotated and rechecked for spoilage. I wonder what will be this years end of all things drama. As for myself 2011 brings some big changes in our lives, and some unwanted replays of old experiences. So... let me just lay it out for you: January:  Ralexwin's last semester of law school begins with a full compliment of classes including days wher

The Price We Pay

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Two weeks ago a friend of mine accompanied me up to the airport to pick up my mom, who was visiting. Things went well. My mom got off of the plane at precisely when she was suppose to and the luggage hit the conveyer belt moments later. We laughed and smiled and enjoyed the thrill of the coming holidays. Then my mom wandered off to find her luggage and my friend innocently exclaimed, "Oh, look! How sweet." I looked and wished that I hadn't. I looked and found myself face to face with my past. Standing near us was a young mother--two kids in tow--clinging to her soldier. Clearly this man had just gotten off of the plane and clearly they hadn't seen each other in a while. The toddler clung to his dad's leg while the wife clung to her husband's--none of them aware of my stunned gawking of this intimate reunion. It was like being sucker punched by a Sumo wrestler. I stood there not knowing how to react and instead just gasped at the pain. I became that

Praise the Heavens!

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Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy I'm back. Whew... It's been awhile. I have about a hundred blog posts rolling around inside of my head and barely any time today to write them. Tomorrow I shall give you all a proper post full of my exploits, ideas, notions or humor. Today I only wanted to pop in and let you all know how much I've missed my little corner of the blogging world these past two weeks. Now I'm off to take my mom to the airport.