Things overheard

Boys will be boys.

R-boy has become quite an artist recently and will draw very elaborate and detailed pictures. Here is a conversation I overheard about his art the other day.

Bob: Tell me about this picture.
R-boy: That’s a monster drinking alcohol.
Bob: Why did you draw a monster drinking alcohol?
R-boy: Because mom said I couldn’t draw human blood.

K-girl will not always be K-girl.

This morning I heard K-girl say out loud with a smile, “Oh my god! I was totally wrong!”

You don’t know how happy that made me to hear her admit that she was actually wrong about something. I think she’s made a breakthrough.

Potty Humor

Not long after K-girl was born, my step-father-in-law informed me that I would soon become intimate with every public restroom in the city. I don’t think this is a universal girl thing. I think it has to do with the powerful genes handed down from my mother-in-law. I remember looking at him with disgust. That will never happen because I absolutely detest public restrooms. At the time, I was not yet aware of the full power of the “Luther gene”.

Needless to say, I know where the little girls’ room is in every Austin store and restaurant I’ve been in. I guess it’s been about 7 years since my first encounter and I’ve become accustomed to it. I still hate it but when faced with the options of your child peeing in the store or using the public restroom, I’ll take the restroom.

These days K-girl is old enough to go by herself but I still have to take L-girl. When I take L-girl to the bathroom, we have a regular, predictable conversation. It goes something like this:

L: Mom, does this toilet flush by itself?

Me: No, it doesn’t. (or Yes, it does.)

L: Good, because it has a handle, right? (or Oh, I’m scared.)

Me: That’s right. (or It’s ok, I’ll help you.)

It is the same conversation every time, depending on whether it’s an automatic toilet or not. I have learned how to cover the sensor on those automatic toilets so it doesn’t get set off by a little girl wiggling on the potty. It’s just another trick of the trade.

BTW, the bathroom at Terra Toys has stickers on the stall doors with pictures of animal butts and a little kid sitting on a toilet. It says, Everyone poops.

Exploding batteries, damaged lungs, vultures

As you may or may not know, I’ve been feeling the need to isolate myself lately. Last night was different. Four wonderful friends all have their birthdays around this time and decided to have a joint birthday party last night. I really wanted to go. I really wanted to see some of my friends, especially the ones I haven’t seen lately. I thought about it all day long. I was looking forward to the hugs and the laughter. But I guess it wasn’t meant to be because we never made it to the party.

I got home from work and made dinner as fast as I could. We ate and then headed out the door. First we had to get K-girl another recorder for music class so we hit Guitar Center. No luck but we had fun playing all the different drums. I learned that R-boy seems to have a natural ability to hold a rhythm. Then someone had to go to the bathroom so we went into the mall to find the restrooms. On the way, I fell in love with a shirt hanging in a store window so I had to go in and buy it. That done, I rounded up the family and drove across the street to Terra Toys. Bob assured me we would just run in, buy the recorder, and head over to the party. I laughed at him. The Smoot Clan could never just “run in” to Terra Toys. I don’t know how long we were in there but we left 30 minutes after closing and $50 poorer. Finally! We were going to the party!

We got in the car, turned the key, and heard a tremendous explosion. I thought a tire had blown out, even though we hadn’t moved. No, the tires looked okay. Then acrid fumes filled my nose and lungs and I started coughing. Ugh. I’m sure that did some damage. When the air cleared, we opened the hood and saw the battery had exploded. Great. This morning when we went back to the car we saw that battery acid had gone everywhere under the hood. We’ll need to get that cleaned off today.

Ok, so no big deal. We’ll just go back in the morning and get a new battery. The challenge was getting home. No big deal, either, really because we were close enough we could walk home. Bob and I were just feeling inconvenienced. But R-boy freaked out. He must have thought we were stranded forever because he got really stressed and started crying. He was probably wondering when the vultures would start circling and could imagine 5 skeletons lying around the car in the parking lot. But when he was convinced we could walk home, and he wasn’t going to die, he was fine. We walked about a half mile and stopped at the convenience store for some bottled water. While we were there, we met a man who lives in our neighborhood and he offered us a ride home. Since I was wearing my strappy sandals, we took him up on his offer.

Naturally, the adventure is not over. The battery store near our house was sold out of the two batteries that would fit my car so we need to find another store. I am now stranded at work with no car and I am at the mercy of Bob’s schedule. At least I have an overflowing plate of work to do to keep me occupied.

My feet glowed for hours...

Wow! What a weekend! We just spent an incredible weekend at The Crossings with 4 other couples and there were NO KIDS.

I had my doubts as to whether or not Bob would have a good time. I went with the ladies last December and had an absolute blast so I was a little nervous that my high expectations would set him up for a fall. When we drove up to the welcome center on Friday afternoon, we were greeted by a soft spoken woman who seemed so happy to see us, even though she didn't know us from Jack. As we drove to the guest parking area, Bob made a comment about the hippies we were going to have to deal with all weekend. I groaned and braced myself for a weekend of Cynical Bob.

We parked and went immediately to the dining hall so we wouldn't miss dinner. I had been raving about how great the food is there so naturally I was nervous Bob wouldn't think it was so great. We got our food and met up with the 3 other couples already there out on the patio overlooking the hills and the river. The food was just as amazing as I remembered. The view was awesome and the company was the best.

The next morning we planned to get up at 7 a.m. so we wouldn't miss breakfast. We paid a buttload for this weekend so I wasn't going to miss any of the meals. Five minutes before the alarm goes off, Bob's phone rings. It's work. Grrr. We shower, get dressed, and head for the dining hall. During breakfast, Bob and one of the other guys had their phones glued to their heads. Erica and I said how glad we were that our jobs were much more relaxed. OUR work doesn't call us on the weekends while we're on vacation.

After breakfast, we checked out the pool and spa area. The view there is better than the view at breakfast and I wanted to get in that pool so bad. So we headed back to the room to get our suits. Now, my kids were all at different places for the weekend so I checked my phone to see if anyone had called to tell me they were quitting and to come get my kid. Crap! A missed call. I didn't recognize the number. So I checked the voicemail. Crap, again! It was MY WORK!

I dealt with the work issue and then ran to the pool. It was amazing! I also got in the hot tub but it's really too hot in Texas to get in a hot tub right now so that lasted about 5 minutes. The rest of the day was spent eating (of course), taking a nap, and going on a two hour plant tour of the facility. But the best part was the foot treatment I had just before dinner. I spent an hour lying on a massage table while someone massaged my legs and feet. AN HOUR! I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I swear my feet glowed for hours afterwards. And two days later they're still looking pretty good.

Saturday night we all got together and played The Newlywed Game. Bob and I had been together the longest and we sucked. We came in dead last. I knew we should have read the questions ahead of time and worked out the answers.

Sunday morning we packed up, had our last breakfast, and then headed out for a short hike that ended up at the sanctuary. Next time, I think I will go there first. It's so beautiful and quiet. You walk inside the stone walls and automatically feel the need to whisper. Your body calms down and everything feels right. Finally, we did an expedited labyrnth walk and then hit the road.

Sunday night, all the kids were home and we had to get ready for the next day of school and work. We were right back into our routine.

I miss The Crossings already.

Buzzin'

I feel weird this morning. I was in a sleep-deprived daze all day yesterday but I got 9 hours of sleep last night. So why the weird buzzing in my body?

Oh yeah. I didn't have time to make coffee this morning so I stopped by Pacha on my way to work. I forgot to specify half-caf. I also forgot to eat breakfast. This buzzing is caffeine on an empty stomach.

Clearly, I needed more than 9 hours of sleep.

A little something about me

I have three absolutely amazing kids and a really cool, geeky husband. I love my parents and my sister. I love my in-laws.

Sometimes I think I have too many friends. I love them all and want to see them all the time. But it's exhausting trying to keep up with everyone.

Having a full time job gets in my way. It takes time away from doing things I would rather be doing. Lucky for me I love my job. Contradictory? Not really. I love my life.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with my life and will say that I hate it. I'm lying.

I have discovered that a really good bbq sandwich makes me feel so much better when I'm in a bad mood. I'm not going to question this phenomenon. I will accept it on faith.

I have creative outlets that I pretend to be good at. When friends compliment my work, I have trouble believing them. When strangers compliment my work, I know it must be true because a stranger has no motivation to lie to me.

I love coffee. It's almost an obsession.

I tend to overextend myself. Lately I've been returning inward in an effort to have a saner life. I fear this is affecting some of my friendships.

I have discovered the child I am most similar to is the one I tend to struggle with. This is probably common knowledge but it seems to counter intuitive to me.

I believe there are forces at work in the universe that are neither good nor bad. I believe we have the power to tap into those forces but sometimes we need help to see. I love my oracle decks and my runes because they help me gain clarity when I have an issue I am trying to understand.

I now have 3 online journals, plus a paper journal. I plan to post in all of these, but not necessarily the same post.