Some Things Never Change

My wonderful seester, Red, posted a bunch of old family pictures on Facebook. I took the liberty of lifting one of them (I hope you don't mind! I might sneak in and steal a few more!) With smiles and a few tears I was clicking through the pictures, reminiscing the fun we had as a family and WHAM!! There was this picture.


I couldn't help laughing. Hard. The comments on this photo were:

**Look at the hair on BOTH of 'em! I'm not sure which one is the most impressive. Valerie's for the size of it, or for the fact that Max actually has some! -- From my brother Googenheimer

Ahhh, yes, Goog, the hair. I loved my 80's hair. It took much effort to get the height and perfect curl to that 'do. It took me about 1.5 hours to complete that look. I would wash it, apply the mousse or gel, then blow it dry. Next came the hot rollers while I applied the make-up. Out came the rollers and a good brushing and then came the curling iron. Yes, I would re-curl my hair to achieve the perfect twists and bends for each follicle. Then came the best part of each hair-do. The hairspray. Half a bottle each day. No hair strand could move. If the wind blew, all my hair would lift as one big unit.

Hairdo's in the 80's were an art.

And Max? Well, look at that full head of beautiful red hair!! :D

**Other than the hair, some things never change!-- From my other seester Wees

It's sad to see that even then, all those years ago, I couldn't have a normal face for pictures. Don't ask me what I'm doing with my hand. It looks obscene. Maybe it was... I don't remember. Max and I have always been somewhat nontraditional and irreverent... mostly goofy.

*****************

Flash forward 21 years. This picture was taken last summer at Applebees.

Some things have changed!!! How many pounds have been added? How many of those hair follicles lost? I only use a couple sprays of hairspray now and have considerably cut down the primping time. No more hot rollers... no more curling irons.

Yet, it seems that nothing has changed at all!

It's Been a While

I'm not sure you want more of these, but I have to record them anyway. Yup, it's time for another edition of:

"What did Inigo say today?"

(I've actually been saving up for one big entry. I'll post the most recent first.)

Inigo has been fighting a weird bug for some time now. At first we thought it was just a heinous cold, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's not something else? Either that or he has a raging case of hypochondriacism. Keep in mind that he walks around with the thermometer tucked under his arm.... literally all day. ("Mom! My temperature says it's 98.4. I think I'm reeeeeeeeally sick.") So tonight I was tucking him in bed. I felt his forehead and yes, it is slightly warm. To test how sick he really might be I say in a warning voice, "Okay, if you're this sick, then I'll call the doctor and take you in tomorrow!" He doesn't like shots, so if he's not too terribly sick, he'll say in his I'm-perking-up-it's-a-miraculous-recovery voice, "Oh... that's okay. I'm sure I'll be better tomorrow." But tonight, he said in his I-really-don't-feel-well voice, kind of breaking up in a half a cry, "Oh okay." Then he points out that his tummy feels kind of weird. I have him lay on his back (which was funny. First he knelt down and arched his back up and I said, no lay on your back, which made him lay on his stomach. I had to say, "put your back on the mattress so I can see your tummy!") I pressed on his stomach and he said it hurt "this much" and held both hands at about shoulder width. Then he got a very worried look in his eyes and said (half crying):

"Am I having a heart attack?"

"No, Inigo. You heart isn't in your stomach."

"Do I have diabetes?"

"Well, I'm not sure about that. But I don't think so."

Poor kid.

****************

Earlier today he was trying to get out of doing his 15 minutes of reading. He was in his room playing and I told him to get out a book and get it done!!!

He walked down the stairs and said in a horrified tone:

"Mom! I feel like a fat man!!"

Buttercup and I were at the piano practicing for voice lessons when he said that and to be honest, I don't know how we kept it together. She fell on the floor and pretended to laugh at the dog and I buried Inigo's head in my chest, comforting him, so he couldn't see my face, as I made fake crying noises to cover the laugh.

I got calm enough to try to talk to him about this. "Okay, Inigo. Exactly how does a fat man feel?" And to be honest, I can't remember his answer. But it eventually morphed into him shoving his pinkie finger into my face and indignantly saying:

"Well, it hurts when I pinch my finger!! And it hurts when I stand on the side of my foot! Do you think I'm going to die?!?!"

I had to laugh. Of course it hurts when you pinch your own flesh. And, to be honest, ankles were made for support, not to walk on.

Fortunately for us, I think you're going to live!

********************

Sunday. It was a special day.

Max and I had to sing with our ward choir at a stake priesthood meeting at 7:00 in the morning. Ugh. The kids weren't up when we left....(of course they weren't.) When we got home at about 8:20, Inigo was standing on the stairs, frantically putting church clothes on.

He was very contrite and said, "I'm sorry! I slept in. I'm getting ready for church now!"

The poor kid thought that he had slept so late that he missed church and that we had left without him. (Buttercup was still asleep in bed.)

Here's his choice of clothes: Khaki pants, his dress shirt, a black vest and his neon green tie from last year's dance recital.

He was still half asleep. We were touched that he wanted to make sure he made it to church and that he took responsibility for getting himself ready. He got a big hug and reassurances that everything was fine, that mom and dad had a meeting early at church and there were still a couple hours until it was time to go. And then tenderly I started helping him with his outfit.

"Inigo, you did such a great job picking out your outfit today!! I'm so proud of you for getting yourself ready for church! Here, let's fix your vest just a little. I can see that the buttons are just a little off," and I showed him that the alignment of the buttons was off by one. (Are you ready for this?)

"Mom, I didn't do it wrong! They just put the button in the wrong spot!"

How do you argue with that?

*******************

A couple weeks ago, he was getting dressed for school. I think it was Valentine's Day. We didn't pick out a special outfit... just some jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He got dressed in his room and came downstairs to the living room where I was.

"Mom, do I look hot? I want to look hot for the girls at school today."

Oh man. Do you have a 16 year old sister or what?

The Funniest Video on YouTube

This is video of Max trying his back flip in Yellowstone. Thanks to Buck for posting it to YouTube so I can share it here!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQixGbEDoqQ

So It's Friday and I Don't Wanna Do Anything!

This is what I did today instead of laundry:

Shortlived

The funk is lifting.

I see light ahead.

It wasn't so bad that a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and a night out with my friends in my craft group couldn't lift my spirits a little bit. (The name of our craft group is SOS -- I guess the name was literal this week!! They saved me! Thanks Thork!)

And I swear, I saw the top layer of snow in my backyard melt yesterday. It has to be 1/4" lower than it was the day before!! (I'm ignoring the fact that there is still 2 1/2 feet back there!)

Is It a Funk?

I'm trying to decide....

Am I in the late winter funk? Or am I just grumpy? Or is it both?

We're past the half-way mark of February and I will admit, I'm sick of the snow. I want to see green grass, leaves on the trees and sit out on the swing in my back yard and read a book. I'm tired of shoveling (but am grateful for the unknown neighbor who shoveled my driveway this morning!)

When I lived in Oregon, February was the month that winter started going away and spring started. I only lived there 6 years and I've been here in Florin for 10, but my internal seasonal clock still says that when February starts drawing to a close, there are supposed to be green things shooting out of the ground!

I think my funk started a week ago when I was verbally assaulted in church. I won't go into details here because I have ward members that read this blog and I don't want anyone to feel bad toward the person that yelled at me. But I really started evaluating things after that happened. I felt at the time and still feel that I was innocent and didn't deserve the way she treated me. Yet, obviously something set her off. Was it really me? Am I bad? Am I unlikeable? How do I treat people?

I realize and understand that there is always room for growth. Maybe my attempt at humor hurt someone's feelings. Maybe I wasn't sensitive enough to a person who was struggling with an issue. Maybe someone smiled at me and I didn't smile back because I didn't see them. Am I too selfish? Too self absorbed?

Or is my funk the fact that Max is travelling a lot for work and we see him less? My partner and my companion is just not here to help as much as I'm used to. And it's not just helping with the kids or the house... it's just being together. My "love language" is quality time. I start shrivelling up if I don't get it. He's so good that when he is home he makes sure to take me somewhere where we can be alone and talk face to face, but I miss seeing his face every night at the dinner table.

Or is my funk that I'm too hard on myself? Am I a good enough mother? Am I teaching my children the things they need to be successful in the world? Will they have their own strong testimony when they leave the house? Am I a good enough YW leader? Am I fulfilling my calling to the best of my ability?

On a more superficial side: I'm struggling in my pottery class. For the life of me, I can't get that clay to center on the wheel and it bugs me!! Why can't I do it? Why aren't my pieces beautiful works of art? and Why can't I be a better photographer? I have beautiful photos in my head, but can't seem to get them to translate to the camera. (Both these things should improve with practice but I'm impatient. I think I should be good at them NOW!!)

Or, ultimately, am I just sick of winter? Do I need more fresh air? Will that fresh air make me treat others better?

Or do I just need to vent?

(No worries. Ultimately, I'm an optimistic person and I know that with time I will work things out and have a good attitude again!)

A Bit of Light Reading

After trying very hard to take good pictures Saturday night, I have added this book to my nightstand.

I also own this book:

But it's not written for dummies.

Guess which book I'm reading first?