February Summary - Part 1

This post will be a random round up of what we have been up to this month.  Good thing for you, there will be lots of pictures.

I got my red hair worked on a bit.  My blond was growing back in and I had sort of a skunk stripe down the middle of my head.  I have figured out that I am not made for the upkeep of coloring my hair, nor is my wallet.  So, we added some blond highlights to help me transition back to my normal color.  My kids think I look just like my sister, Karen.

My selfie skills are questionable, aren't they?  I look scared of myself here, don't I?

D-man got rid of his college hair that had to be stuffed under a hat and now looks like a young man.  Well, actually a young scientist with those glasses.  Love him.

All seven of us went to the salon for the afternoon.  Four of us were getting stuff done to our hair and the other three just came along because we LOVE the little restaurant next door and we were going to eat.  The stylist was running behind and all our services took forever.  My younger girls had never really witnessed everything that happens in a salon before and were intrigued by how relaxed we all looked when we were getting our hair washed.  They asked Kelly, the stylist, how much it would be just to get their hair shampooed by her.  She took me aside and asked if she could do it for free, because they were being so good, even though the day was sort of spiraling out of control.  I said she could.  But, then everything with us took longer than any of us planned, Kelly was exhausted, and we were all getting hungry, so we didn't do it.

But, sweet A-girl, remembered how I used to wash her and L-girl's hair on the counter when they were younger.  (My mom used to go my hair like that for years - until I barely could fit on the counter)

It was so cute.  Lots of giggling.

I got a few sweet Valentines, took the kids for our annual trip to the local coffee shop during the day (I LOVE homeschooling!) and S-girl made and decorated a cake for us.

A-man turned 13 and is now officially on Facebook.  He is also almost as tall as me.  Crazy.

I am back to watching my little extras now that their mom is done with maternity leave.  I am happy and any mouth injuries I may sustain are totally worth it. 

Looking through my pictures, I have a few more things from February, but I will tell you about them later because otherwise this post will get way too long.

Hurricane Help

Obviously, I am very behind in sharing some of my life stories with you.  Last fall, Hurricane Irma was barreling towards Florida and it looked like it was going to be really bad.  I put out the messages to all my family and friends that live down there, that they could evacuate to our house here in Georgia. 

They all turned me down and decided to ride out the storm, except for my friend T.  T and I have known each other since.....I think 4th grade.  (I am getting old, so some details are getting fuzzy.  LOL)

She sent me a message and asked if she could really come escape the storm with us....and bring her two fur babies.  Yup, I said.  Come on!  And, she did.

It took her like 15 hours to drive the 500 or so miles to our place.  Yuck.

I will admit that I completely meant it when I said our home was open to friends and family.  I will also admit that when she said she was actually coming, I freaked out a bit.  T and I have known each other since elementary school, but she is not one of the people that I have kept in super close contact with since we graduated.  Facebook happy birthday greetings?  Clicking "like" on a funny meme about Minnesota winters? Yes.  Jamberry and other on-line parties?  Yes.   But, sharing life and conversations?  Nope.

So, I started thinking....what if we don't like each other anymore?  What if it is weird and awkward and we are trapped together in my house? 

But, you know?  It really wasn't weird.  It was sort of weirdly normal.  We were still essentially those same 4th grade girls - albeit less awkward and much more comfortable with our nerdiness.

We still liked each other.  We still understood each other. 

My kids loved hearing stories about our time in school....or even just how public school worked back then in rural Minnesota.  Like, how the boys could drive their trucks to school, park it in the lot with their gun on their gun rack. Because they had gotten in a little hunting before school and planned to go out right after school, if they had time.  No big deal.

My one and only experience with T.P-ing (I don't really know how to spell that...)  was at one of T's sleep overs in high school.  It was not a good experience for me.  I am such a rule follower...aka...nerd,  that I was terrified that we were going to get caught and arrested or get a stern talking to by somebodies mom or dad.  I don't like to get in trouble.  I don't even like the possibility of getting in trouble.  So,  I just sort of awkwardly crouched behind bushes and kept saying things like, "I think that is enough.  That is good.  Maybe we should go home now.", while everyone else gleefully chucked the rolls of toilet paper onto the trees.

It was sort of fun to know that I was basically the same person that I was back when I was a kid.  You know?  I have changed, but also, I haven't.

T stayed with us for about a week.  We just went about our normal lives and she just went along with our flow.  She even came to church with us and helped pack relief buckets for hurricane victims!  Her fur babies never really warmed up to us or the house though.  I don't know if it was because there are so many of us, or that we were too loud and moved too quickly.  But, they stayed in her bedroom for 99% of the time.

(This is another Florida evacuee that was staying with a friend from church.  Just cracks me up that they both ended up coming to help pack relief buckets with us.)

As a thank you gift for me, she ordered me these really cool rubber wine stopper things so I don't have to try to shove my cork back in the bottles now.  I can be classy like other people!

She also wanted to thank L-girl who had given up her room for T.  So, she surprised her and bought her the dress she wanted for Homecoming.  L-girl was thrilled.

It was nice to have someone to talk....Minnesotan with that had also moved down south.  It was fun talking about the things we have had to adjust to and things we thought were normal in Minnesota that are weird down here.  LOL

Thinker

It may or may not surprise those of you who know me in real life, and, I guess, those of you who know me via my blog, that I am a thinker.  Some may call me a deep thinker, but I suspect more would refer to me as an over thinker.

"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes, I just sits." - A.A. Milne (muttered by Winnie the Pooh)



This image © The Walt Disney Studios

I really can't turn my brain off.  Even when I am quiet, my mind is mulling over something or the other.  Looking back, I am pretty sure both of my parents were also thinkers.  I can remember my dad just sitting back and watching when the whole family would get together.  He didn't talk much (unless you got him to talk about God or politics).  But, he would just sort of sit there, looking over his brood, every now and then we would get a smirk, or the ever elusive and rare smile....with teeth.  If you could get my dad to actually laugh out loud, it would give you an ego boost for years to come.

My mom is more of a quiet planner. She doesn't like to make moves or do anything until she is done thinking it over.  Top to bottom.  Left to right.  Backwards and frontwards.  She doesn't like to make a move on anything until she has thought it through and is ready.  She talks more than my dad did and we can get her to laugh quite a bit.  But, she will also be content just sitting and thinking, like my dad was.

I seem to have gotten both of their thinking proclivities.  Depending on who you ask, that may or may not be a good thing.  I have totally found myself sitting back and looking at my brood (plus my little extras that I watch) with that secret little smile on face, that I can totally remember seeing on his face and wondering what was going on in his mind.  For me, it is a sense of peace and contentment.  A sense that really as long as I have these people surrounding me, all will be right in the world.  I wonder if he was thinking some of those same thoughts?  I also do not like to make any moves until I am done thinking it through.  (I don't even like to hang pictures in the house until I have thought through every possible place they could go and picked the best one.  I don't want unnecessary nail holes, you know.)

The problem with my thinking comes in when you marry me off to Rainman.  You have heard me say that he is one of the smartest people I know.  He is.  But, the man is not a big thinker.  He is impulsive. He is a risk taker and likes to jump in.  No thinking.  No measuring.  No pros and cons list.  Gulp.  He plans a trip and before that one has even gotten here, he is working on planning our next two.  He spews dates, plans and hotels at me.  My eyes glaze over.  My upper lip breaks out in sweat.  My ears totally tune him out.  I do tell him that I can't think about it yet.  But, he is so caught up in his excitement, that he can't contain himself.

I can't do it.  I can't think about that until I am done with the most immediate thing, whether it be a work assignment, or an event at church.  I have to finish that up.  Put it behind me.  Then I can move onto thinking about the next thing.  This is sometimes where I wonder if I do actually have a waffle portion of my brain and that it isn't all spaghetti.

I assume it is because my brain is such a thorough thinker that it is trying to save me by not having me have too much information and too many things to be processing at once.  I know Rainman finds it annoying that I can't get excited about the next five trips he has planned, or even the next one, if he talks about it at the wrong time, but the very thought of it truly overwhelms me.  Again, it is not that I don't enjoy traveling.  It is not that I am incapable of letting loose and having fun.  I do and I can.

I find myself now, just sitting and drinking my coffee and looking outside.  Just like I used to see my mom do.  I also find myself sitting outside reading.  I can feel the sun on my face, the breeze on my skin and be able to hear the world around me.  Just like I used to see my dad do.

Am I the best of both of them....or the worse of them?  I guess it depends on who you ask. Ha!

I do know that I am not changing.  Rainman still doesn't understand me.  I can't seem to figure out a way to tell him  that his incessant trip planning and planning and planning truly overwhelms my heart and soul.  But, I assume that his planning and planning is just who he is also and he won't be changing anytime soon either.

We need to figure out a way for us both to be able to do our thing and not get in the others way.  Wonder if that is possible?

My thinking has also been the thing that has stopped me from blogging more often.  I actually have lots of stuff I would like to share with you guys.  But, then, I start thinking.....will this or that hurt the kids feelings?  Will this embarrass them?  Will they misunderstand my motives?  Will people think I am weird?  Will trolls be mean to me?

So, I end up in a never ending thinking loop that I can't get out of.  I am mentally paralyzed and don't do anything.  My friend Kristy, though, actually sent me a message and said she had missed my writing and asked if I was going to start up again.

I know you will be shocked to know that I thought about it....and decided to try to jump in again. Even though there really is a piece of me that thinks,  "Why would anybody care to spend time reading about my life, my thoughts, or my opinions?"

Honestly, this was way easier when my kids were younger. (That is not a sentence you hear very often, is it?)  They were just my little people...not really their own just yet.  Does that make sense?

I absolutely have thoughts, feelings and opinions on teenagers and the world around us, but because they are older now, I hesitate to share our stories for the world to see.  So, I am stuck.  I am not a food blogger or a home improvement blogger.  I am not even a homeschool blogger anymore, even though I am still 100% behind homeschooling.

If you have stuck with me and continued reading this, I will end with saying, I am going to try not to overthink and blog a little bit more.  It truly is a fun way to document our lives and the funny things the kids have said or done.  Sometimes, I will go back and read some of my old posts and had totally forgotten some of the stories and cute things the kids did.  It is fun.  Makes me feel bad that I am not doing as good of a job for my younger three as I did for the older three.  (just like with their actual scrapbooks....those poor children!)

I am going to try to do better.  That is all.