Day 26: Highlights

This month...

Is it sad that I'm checking Facebook to see what exciting things happened this month?

I was officially inducted into the Soccer Mom club. I had to bring snacks for after the game for the first time. I went with S'mores popcorn. (Popcorn, chocolate chips, mini mallows, and Golden Grahams.)

I stole a picture off of Facebook from my cousin. She's an amazing artist. I hate her. (Not because of her talent, but because she's prettier than I am.)

I changed the name of my daycare/preschool. 

I finally got the packet I needed in order to get my CDA, and promptly decided it was too much work to actually do. I gave up. Then I decided to act like a real, live grown up and actually do the work.

Zeph got glasses.

I almost fell off our 3rd floor balcony trying to hang Halloween lights. (This may or may not be a slight exaggeration.)

We went to the pumpkin patch.

And I will be closing out the month by running the Red Ribbon 5k. Which is fitting, since my mother was the Just Say No coordinator when I was young.

Day 25 (Which is really Day 9,785 at the rate I'm going...)

My favorite Bible verse.

Hmmmm.

I know most people pull the inspirational verses out as their favorite. Most people will quote Psalms or Proverbs. Me? My approach to my faith was shaped and molded by a guy who wore a suit that is half purple and half black. (And full of awesome really.) So I can't say that my approach to my faith is what one would consider normal.

I have a favorite book of the Bible. (Habakkuk)

I don't know if I have a favorite verse. The one I think of most often, the one that reminds me personally that actions can be much more important than words.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead ~ James 2:26

Day 24: Now I need to watch Armageddon...

Today's challenge post is "You're leaving on a jet plane. Where are you headed and why?"

Considering at this moment driving to England is a viable option, I would have to say if I am leaving on a jet plane, I am headed to the States. Which state, I don't know. 

I obviously would want to be going to Indiana to visit the relatives. It's been 16 months since we've seen family, and that's a record. I think 13 months is the longest we've gone without taking a trip to see the fam. And I hate that it's been that long since I've seen my BFFs. It makes me a sad panda. 

I also desperately want to go to Colorado. There will always be a big chunk of me that considers Colorado Springs home. Bits of my soul that can only be soothed by breathing in air void of oxygen and using Pike's Peak as a compass. (And the fact that most of very first friends I made as an adult are still there is a big selling point as well.)

And yet, given an option, I could head to Memphis or Miami. Places with amazing family I have yet to meet. Places full of relatives I really would love for my girls to get to know. 

Too many choices. Maybe I'll just drive to France for coffee instead...

Day 23: Traditionally Untraditional.

Other than not allowing my children to decorate the living room Christmas tree, we have no real traditions.

Unless you count the tradition of catching pot holders on fire.

It only happens at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Although, we've skipped the last two years, so I guess it's not so much of a tradition anymore...

Day 22: It's All Fun and Games, Until Someone Gets Run Over by a Car

I don't think I had ONE favorite game or activity growing up. There was always SOMETHING to do in my neighborhood. Always someone outside playing.

I think the one thing I remember most, is when we were finally old enough to be allowed to play in the street and use the neighbor's mailboxes and curbs for our baseball or kickball bases. The bases never changed, and I'm pretty sure are all still there if you were to take a peak at the street I grew up on.

Plus, I don't think we ever broke a window or anything, which has got to be some kind of record for a street full of hooligans, right?

Day 21: Random High School Memory

This is me the Sunday after junior prom. The prom where my date was my Tamara, and we went to dinner at Chuck E. Cheese before hand. The baby belongs to BDrum. Who is the minister that performed my wedding 5 years later.

How's that for random?

Day 20: Before I Kick the Bucket

Five things from my bucket list...

I don't actually have a bucket list. I probably should make one. For the main reason that I have a terrible memory.

So I'll start with 5 things.

1. Visit the Coliseum in Rome. 
2. Go to Ocktober Fest in München. (Hopefully next year!)
3. Host a reunion of my amazing Colorado friends.
4. Learn to make pie crust from scratch.
5. Hang 100 pictures in my home that I have taken. No professional portraits other than school pictures of the girls. 

What about you? What do you want to do before you die? 

Day 19: In Pictures

Saturday lunch. Massaman curry.

Day 18: Accomplished

My biggest accomplishment.

To explain why getting my daycare license reinstated is the biggest accomplishment of my life, and why it is the thing I am most proud of (after being a mom of course) I have to tell you a little story. That starts out...

What had happened was...

After I became a licensed daycare provider, I had 12 months to complete 12 modules that are for training purposes. They teach you how to work with kids, and all that jazz. Module number 3 is one about the daycare environment.  It covers things like having multiples of popular toys to avoid fights, what kind of blocks you should have, how to set up a room, yada yada yada. It also covers the types of play food you should have for your pretend kitchen. And this is where the story gets sad, and hilarious.

The trainer came into my house, and we were making a list of the toys that I had. She looked at me and asked "I see you have an African American child in your daycare. Do you have pretend fried chicken? I know that is something they eat."

(I'll pause while you pick your jaw up off the floor.)

This Hispanic lady, with a LOT of training in Early Childhood Education, said that I needed pretend fried chicken because there was an African American child. Because it's "what they eat". I wanted to laugh. I didn't think she could really be that dumb. I really didn't. Instead, I asked her not to make such racist statements in my home.

After I told a couple of people what she said, mostly because I couldn't BELIEVE it was said, she was angry. Sending me emails informing me that she is NOT a racist, and cannot be because she is Hispanic and her husband is white. (I'm still not sure how that is a valid argument, but whatever.)

Months went by, and she began to stop coming to my home to observe. Or if she did come by, she would be 30-45 minutes late, and only able to stay for 20 minutes or so. Which is not long enough. And then she told powers that be that *I* had stopped doing my trainings. (Which I had actually completed, and could have handed in had she asked for them.) They took my license. Paul's supervisor at the time informed me that he would not help me petition to get it back, because everyone in charge of the daycare providers out ranked him, and he was new to the base and didn't want to cause any problems.

It took two years, Holly, and a lot of yelling and swearing on my part, but I was able to fight to get my license back. I had to go before the powers that be and tell them that it was NOT 100% my fault that my license was pulled, that I would like to start over with the entire process. I told them that I stand behind my statement of the original trainer's racism (which they had not heard about but the coordinator told them that that wasn't what happened though she wasn't there when it did) and that I would not hesitate to make a statement like that again in a similar situation. But I also said I would play nice. The new trainer also told them that while bits of the original situation were my fault, I could not force the original trainer to stay in my home, or come by, and that she (the first trainer) should be held responsible for her own actions in the "incident" as I now refer to it.

Clearly, my license was reinstated. I have since finished all but one of the trainings, and I will be getting my Child Development Associates in a very short amount of time. Hopefully I will also be accredited by the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) by next summer.

And when I tell my girls this story when they are older, I hope they realize that you have to stand up for yourself always, because you can't always count on someone else.

Also? I still stand behind the fact that that woman is a racist. Whether she knows it or not.

Day 16: What I Read

Watch me play catch up today!

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Today I'm supposed to tell you what my favorite book, magazine, and poem.

Hmmm...

I like a lot of books. I don't know that I have an absolute favorite.

There is one book, however, that haunts me. I have read it from cover to cover probably 8 times. And each time I bawl my eyes out. This is not a big enough deterrent, because I keep reading the book over and over.

"First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung.

My favorite magazine is Women's Health, though from looking at me you'd never know that.

(I'm going to pretend my abs look like that!)

My favorite poem by Shel Silverstein. It's not profound. It's not deep or meaningful. It's just plain fun. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Oh, I'm being eaten

By a boa constrictor,

A boa constrictor,

A boa constrictor,

I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor,

And I don't like it--one bit.

Well, what do you know?

It's nibblin' my toe.

Oh, gee,

It's up to my knee.

Oh my,

It's up to my thigh.

Oh, fiddle,

It's up to my middle.

Oh, heck,

It's up to my neck.

Oh, dread,

It's upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . 

Day 15: Trying to be cool, You look like a fool to me...

This song takes me back to a simpler time. Back when I was old enough to be held accountable for my own actions, but not quite a grown up. 
And a parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly in Windsor, Ontario. 

Day 14: They Said WHAT?!

The worst advice I've ever gotten?

This is going to be really really trivial. I don't believe I have ever gotten really horrible life advice.

Someone once recommended I get my hair done at a Toni and Guy salon. They said I would be happy with the service and my hair.

The service? It was great.

The haircut? Was some sort of modern mullet.

That took 6 months to grow out.

Day 13: Dear Abby...

The best piece of advice I've ever received came to me during my premarital counseling.

B. Drum told us:

You don't have to like each other every day and you don't have to love each other every day, but you have to make the conscious decision to do one or the other. Every. Day.

Day 12: Ultimate Comfort Food

Only one comfort food? Since this was my idea, I guess I can't complain too much, right?

If I had to pick, just one, I would have to go with chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes.

However, I have not eaten them in a very very very long time. (Mostly, because my intestines have decided that gluten is of the devil) When I think about my childhood however, I remember the containers of noodles in our freezer. The ones Grandma made from scratch. And even the ones she made with noodles from the frozen food section.

Noodles have always been served at Christmas and Thanksgiving in my family. And Easter too. So they remind me of a time when everything was perfect, and it seemed as though my family was very functional.

I look back now and see that really, we're just functionally dysfunctional. But we eat well. So it's all good.

Tag Zehn: Fill In the Blank

Right now I really want a _warm pepsi, bottle of antacids, and a nap_.

I have had some crazy heart burn the last couple of days. Even after eating nothing but flavorless food, and half a container of Tums.

I haven't had heartburn this bad since I was preggo with Zephina. And at least that was productive heartburn and let me know she was going to be born with an awful lot of hair!

Day 9: Embarrassing High School Moments...

Okay, so,  I kind of feel like all 4 years of high school were one big embarrassing moment. I can't really come up with one specific thing where I feel like I wanted to just crawl into a corner and hug myself.

I can think of two specific times where I remember thinking "Oh my crap, this is not okay..."

1) When auditioning for drum major senior year, I counted the tempo in 4/4 time, and didn't realize it was supposed to be 3/4 time until two bars later, and then I got so flustered, I made the room of 75 musicians playing The Star Spangled Banner mess up. And that's a hard song to mess up, because everyone knows it, and it's hard to lose your place.

Needless to say, I was NOT made drum major.

and

B) (Again, a band related incident.) Although I did NOT make drum major, I was named band captain, which meant I was a part of the group that would represent the band and accept whatever award we happened to win. At the time, I had waist length, super straight, incredibly big hair. When I would put my hat on for competitions, it took some pretty amazing feats to get all of the hair tucked into the hat. At one particular competition, I had put my hair into two messy buns, directly on top of my head. No one could see them, so it wasn't a hairdo I would normally sport in public.

Except, no one reminded me to take them down when it was time to go on stage. So I stood in front of a few hundred people with a hair 'do very similar to this...

I really hope all the real photographic evidence has been destroyed.

Day 8: Quotably Annoying

In the same way that I didn't have to think very hard to come up with my favorite quote, I certainly don't have to think to come up with a quote I despise so much it makes me feel very stabby.

"The only man who is worth your tears, will never make you cry"

Who came up with that? And can I get some of whatever they were on?

Seeing as this is a quote clearly directed at girls/women it is an inherently flawed ideal. Sure, no one wants to be with a guy who makes them cry all the time, but more often than not don't all girls cry for no apparent reason?

I mean, sure, anyone "worth your tears" should probably try their best to avoid making you cry. I'll give you that. That is a very good quality to look for in a partner. It is not, however, always something the other party does on purpose. Paul has made me cry before. Never out of spite mind you, but I cried just the same. Many times, he doesn't even know WHAT he did to start the water works. That's not his fault.
That's just how girls and guys are wired. I'm wired to cry if he tells me what I made for dinner tastes like licking the inside of a dumpster, and he's wired to not understand that it's not that really the dirty socks all over the floor that is upsetting to me. It's an underlying issue that's making my mascara run.

Also? I know more girls who cry harder when they are happy than they do if they are sad, hurt, or angry. So if you follow the logic of this quote, if your guy proposes at the top of the Empire State Building and you burst into tears of joy, you should tell him no, because he's "not worth your tears". I know that's not the spirit in which this was written, but it's a very valid argument anyway.

Anyway you look at it however, I'm really sick of hearing it. It's Dora the Explorer levels of obnoxious.

Day 6: This Is a Given...

It took me NO time what so ever to figure out what TV character I am most like.
And if you have read any other entry in my blog, you will not be surprised.

The character I am most like?


Phoebe Buffay of course!

Day 5: 525,600 Minutes

What year of my life would I relive, without changing anything?

I'm really not sure. There are so many little things I would like to change, but it wouldn't be necessary.

So, I'll go with this year.

I THINK it was 1985. I was approximately 3.

I just realized my dad is smiling in that picture. Pretty sure this is the ONLY snapshot of him smiling prior to 2004 when Zeph was born...

Looks like it was a good year.

Day 4: Perfection...

What would a "perfect" Saturday look like for me?

Well, pretty much like today. Without the headache I currently have. Or the heart burn.

So, like this...

(That little girl in front of Zeph? She scored the first goal for our team, when she was the ONLY girl on the field, and then took a ball to the face but got back in the game 5 minutes later. Five year olds amaze me.)

First game of the season. The Red Dragons vs The Green Dragons. Since we don't keep score, I can't tell you that we lost. 4 to 3.

Germany, the place where you carry an umbrella because it looks like rain, and end up using it to keep the sun out of your eyes.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the park, and then came home for lunch and a nap.

Sheer perfection.


**Again, this is the only way I can write about my feelings about September 11, 2001.**