Through an enormous gift of genetics, I have been blessed with an abundance of body hair. TMI, I know. No, seriously, I know.
It's also ironic that at this stage in hormones/life that the hair on my head is thinning rapidly yet now I'm seeing random black hairs pop up where previously there were none and should never be any. They don't appear to be getting any thinner or finer. In fact, I'd say they are multiplying. It's distressing. My tweezers are about to go sue me for mandatory vacation time.
Lucky for me, there are an endless supply of beauty/grooming/maintenance products and options. Shaving is my method of choice and I'll leave it at that.
With that in mind, on Tuesday (when I actually started this post) I woke up thinking, "Crap! I'm volunteering with Sara's class today. I need to shave. Because my volunteer activity for the day was going to be getting in the pool with 22 kindergartners while they learned about water/pool/swimming safety.
Woo. Hoo.
I'm sure that most of the kindergartners wouldn't even notice whether or not I shaved. But I bet the other moms will. And, if I'm being totally honest, I mind. We moved to a more, umm, organically oriented area so I'm sure there are tons of women around here that don't shave their legs or armpits or pluck their eyebrows. I'm not one of those women.
So I'm in the shower and I'm shaving. The shower in our bathroom is HUGE. It's a standalone shower, so there's no tub edge to elevate my leg. Technically, this should make shaving easier, but for some reason it doesn't. I guess because with a straight leg the shower washes off the soap faster than I can shave it off. But whatever. The shower also has a light in it, which any gal can tell you makes shaving easier because it's a LOT easier to shave off hair you can see versus hair you cannot see. Light comes in handy for that, as it turns out.
I get out of the shower all happy and clean and freshly shaved. However, I do not shower with my glasses on because...duh. Who does that? Well, I might have to start because I missed HUGE sections of leg hair. I mean, it was bad enough that I then had to sit on the edge of the tub and reshave my legs with my glasses on. Frankly, it was a bit disconcerting. Any annoying. Am I really at that stage? Where I can't even see well enough without glasses to shave my legs? Oy vey! I think it's time to consider lasik. Otherwise, it's going to be a long, hairy summer.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Just thinking about over thinking
I saw this on Facebook and actually laughed out loud this morning:
For me this is so true. Especially #1. Hello, my name is Brooke and I'm a chronic over-thinker. Often the the detriment of whatever or whomever I'm thinking about.
Funny how that works!
Example 1: Stupid, stupid PCS (military ordered move) cleaning. I cleaned our house. I bitched about cleaning our house. Then I cleaned it again. And again. And again. I had heard a nice variety of things about how strict the privatized housing office was on PCS cleaning. Better safe than sorry, I figured - and I manged to re-aggravate my carpal tunnel getting it all done. But I was determined not to give these people one. more. dime.
Did my husband try to help me? Yep! Did he get really frustrated with me? Oh heck yes! Let me quote him, "I feel like, no matter what I do, it's not up to your standards." To which I WISELY did NOT reply, "Want it up to my standards? Make it spotless." I also didn't point out that they weren't MY standards. They were the military/housing office standards.
Imagine my relief/surprise/pleasure when, at our final inspection, the lady walks through, double checks all the blinds and cabinets and announces us done and fee free. Now, also imagine Robert thinking (no idea if this is true) "Awesome. Now I can live with her again!"
Was it worth it? Meh. The jury is still out on that one. I am a perfectionist in certain areas. It's why my overpacked, always cluttered house drives me crazy on a constant basis. I'm fine with things not being perfect all the time. I mean, we live in these places with two young kids after all. But I do notice. Like the stack of papers on the bar that have been sitting there since we unpacked boxes two weeks ago. Or the Legos scattered across the playroom floor. Ideally, I'd love for those things to have been handled by someone else. But I know good and well that will never happen. Why is that? Because it only bothers me. And, despite my longing for a eternally clean house, that's not truly feasible without driving myself crazy. So I do the best I can and try to let the rest of it roll off my back. Some days that works way better than others.
Example #2
Any sort of strange personal interaction. Someone scowls in my direction? I automatically think - oh no! Did I offend them in some way?
How silly is that? Sometimes (and believe me I should totally understand this), a person is just in a bad mood. If I'm concentrating on something I make a mean face. I know because so many people have mentioned it. I'm rarely upset or trying to be mean, my face just has a mind of it's own. Plus, I'd look like a total idiot walking around grinning all the time. My friends would call the really nice folks in white jackets with the hypodermic needles to come and get me.
I also mentally obsess about conversations that I don't want to have that I'm going to have anyway. Like a confrontation. By nature, I will avoid confrontation at all costs - especially with unreasonable people. I feel people should be able to sit down and rationally and calmly discuss things - even if they are things said people disagree on. But as much as I prefer to avoid confrontation personally, I will jump right in there to defend some one I care about.
Of course then, after all is said and done, I will replay it all in my head and critique the situation. What could I have said or done differently? What should I have said or done?
Over thinking.
Example #3
Making a decision (especially that involves other people) about something I don't really have an opinion on or care about either way. I will try to figure out what the majority wants and suggest that. However, that always seems to backfire somehow. I need to just put on my big girl panties and make the decision already. I'll spend more time over thinking something I really could care less about than I do on something I care a lot about. What's wrong with THAT picture?
I could come up with more examples, but now I have to go obsess about this post and whether I made the point I was trying to make or if I got too off topic or whether or not people will think I'm a lunatic or if I've offended anyone or..well, you get the idea. Also, I feel the urge to pick up some Legos. ::snort::
For me this is so true. Especially #1. Hello, my name is Brooke and I'm a chronic over-thinker. Often the the detriment of whatever or whomever I'm thinking about.
Funny how that works!
Example 1: Stupid, stupid PCS (military ordered move) cleaning. I cleaned our house. I bitched about cleaning our house. Then I cleaned it again. And again. And again. I had heard a nice variety of things about how strict the privatized housing office was on PCS cleaning. Better safe than sorry, I figured - and I manged to re-aggravate my carpal tunnel getting it all done. But I was determined not to give these people one. more. dime.
Did my husband try to help me? Yep! Did he get really frustrated with me? Oh heck yes! Let me quote him, "I feel like, no matter what I do, it's not up to your standards." To which I WISELY did NOT reply, "Want it up to my standards? Make it spotless." I also didn't point out that they weren't MY standards. They were the military/housing office standards.
Imagine my relief/surprise/pleasure when, at our final inspection, the lady walks through, double checks all the blinds and cabinets and announces us done and fee free. Now, also imagine Robert thinking (no idea if this is true) "Awesome. Now I can live with her again!"
Was it worth it? Meh. The jury is still out on that one. I am a perfectionist in certain areas. It's why my overpacked, always cluttered house drives me crazy on a constant basis. I'm fine with things not being perfect all the time. I mean, we live in these places with two young kids after all. But I do notice. Like the stack of papers on the bar that have been sitting there since we unpacked boxes two weeks ago. Or the Legos scattered across the playroom floor. Ideally, I'd love for those things to have been handled by someone else. But I know good and well that will never happen. Why is that? Because it only bothers me. And, despite my longing for a eternally clean house, that's not truly feasible without driving myself crazy. So I do the best I can and try to let the rest of it roll off my back. Some days that works way better than others.
Example #2
Any sort of strange personal interaction. Someone scowls in my direction? I automatically think - oh no! Did I offend them in some way?
How silly is that? Sometimes (and believe me I should totally understand this), a person is just in a bad mood. If I'm concentrating on something I make a mean face. I know because so many people have mentioned it. I'm rarely upset or trying to be mean, my face just has a mind of it's own. Plus, I'd look like a total idiot walking around grinning all the time. My friends would call the really nice folks in white jackets with the hypodermic needles to come and get me.
I also mentally obsess about conversations that I don't want to have that I'm going to have anyway. Like a confrontation. By nature, I will avoid confrontation at all costs - especially with unreasonable people. I feel people should be able to sit down and rationally and calmly discuss things - even if they are things said people disagree on. But as much as I prefer to avoid confrontation personally, I will jump right in there to defend some one I care about.
Of course then, after all is said and done, I will replay it all in my head and critique the situation. What could I have said or done differently? What should I have said or done?
Over thinking.
Example #3
Making a decision (especially that involves other people) about something I don't really have an opinion on or care about either way. I will try to figure out what the majority wants and suggest that. However, that always seems to backfire somehow. I need to just put on my big girl panties and make the decision already. I'll spend more time over thinking something I really could care less about than I do on something I care a lot about. What's wrong with THAT picture?
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
All we wanted were books and cupcakes
Yesterday started out great. I was up, showered, and ready to go a little early. The kids got off to school with no problems after having a healthy breakfast and my packing them healthy lunches and snacks. I went to the grocery store and between store sales and coupons, saved $42 on our grocery bill. I grabbed an iced tea from McDonalds, then came home and carted my grocery haul up the stairs and put it away before anything melted or spoiled.
The sun was out, the weather was beautiful. I had a Skype date planned for around noon, so I had time to straighten up and then read for a bit first. The Skype thing actually worked well for the most part (our internet here is beyond slow. So slow that we cannot use our Vonage phone at all. We're working on the solution).
It was a great day!
When I was taking the kids to school, we had decided that after school we'd go to the library, then try the cupcake place downtown. I picked the kids up, we went to the library where I discovered that I could get my own account versus the Base policy of one account per family. I hadn't asked Robert for his library card because I didn't think I'd need to. Whoops. So the kids and I had to run home and get proof of address and then go back to the library to set up my account get the books we'd picked out.
Not really a big deal.
After that, we find a place to park, finally, and we walk to the cupcake shop. On our way, we discovered that the crossing lights apparently do not work downtown. Safety first, I guess? Alrighty then. As walk up to the cupcake shop, a young girl is locking the door and the sign says, "closed". Whaaaa? Sara was devastated. But hey, what else can you do when you sell out of cupcakes by 3:30 pm? Stay open so you can tell folks, "sorry, we're sold out?"
I needed to go to another grocery store to pick up a few things that were on sale there that we needed. I had planned to do that the next morning, but I figured that since the cupcake place didn't work out, I could just buy the kids one at the bakery there and I'd have all the shopping done for week. Double productivity points, right?!?
We made it through the grocery store and the kids, after an extraordinary and amusing amount of bickering, decided on cupcakes. We had to get a pack of 6, since apparently the grocery store only sells enormous oversized cupcakes as singles. On the upside, we ended up with six for what we would have paid for three at the downtown bakery...so there's that.
As we are trying to leave the store parking lot and go home before the bag of ice I had to buy melted in the 80 degree weather we were having, we got behind an older gentleman in a huge boat of a car (Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum fans - it's like the car she borrows from her dad) who was going all of 5 mph through this huge parking lot and braking about every 6 feet. Siiiiiiiiiigh.
I should also mention it was HOT in my car and when I get hot for no good reason, I tend to get cranky. I was overdressed for the weather, but it's cooler in the house and also, I haven't shaved in...well..way too long.
ANYWAY, so I become unreasonably aggravated at this guy and have to sincerely fight the urge to get out of my car and run up and push his car faster. Because, good grief, he was driving in the middle of the row so there was no getting past him and he obviously had the rest of the week to make it to the stoplight. Sara, ever helpful and in a huge hurry to get home and eat a cupcake, shouts out, "Move your butt, slowpoke! We don't have all day!!!!" Which, okay, I know this is awful, but it made me laugh. Which made Tucker shout out, "Learn to drive, butt munch!"
Umm, butt munch? Where on earth did he learn THAT? Wait. I don't think I want to know.
::Momentary pause for my obviously lacking parenting skills because 1) my kids have road rage before they can drive and 2) I couldn't not laugh at their outbursts.:: Sorry America.
And, while today it all just seems amusing, I was tired, hot, thirsty, and frustrated. We get home, get the groceries upstairs and unpacked, the kids get a cupcake and all should be right with the world. And then we unpack back packs and start homework.
Sara was the most upset to leave her friend Rachel and her dance class behind. So she excitedly hands me a piece of paper that announces there will be dance lessons on Friday afternoon at her school. Well, that's awesome that she could take dance lessons at school! Only I'm looking at the form and the classes started LAST Friday. Umm......It's an 8 week session for $96. That's more expensive than her former ballet school. Plus we've already missed a class, plus they aren't meeting on May 17 because it's an early dismissal day. So I can pay the eight week price for six weeks? No thanks. Sara is dramatically grief stricken when I say no. Robert chooses this really awful moment to come home and show me a letter from one of our neighbors.
The letter is regarding her cat. The cat roams freely around the neighborhood because we've seen it a number of times. One of my other neighbors already warned me about this lady and her cat. It seems she doesn't want anyone else to touch it or feed or pay it any attention, and gets very vocal if you do. Which is understandable except for the fact that the cat is out and about in the neighborhood, sometimes approaching us. I've seen it right outside our patio door on more than one occasion, and one night last week it was on our window ledge at night, looking in and silently meowing (or at least meowing so softly that we couldn't hear it). The mailbox flier gives her phone number and instructions not to let it in our house or feed it, or try to pet or interact with it. Uh, ok?!? It seems like a sweet cat. But something about the way her letter was worded just hit me wrong. Don't want people messing with your cat? Keep your cat inside. It all just seems...well, stupid. But whatever. I try to explain to Robert why I find this whole situation completely ridiculous he takes it totally personally and then and he and I are sniping at each other. All over a cat we wouldn't have fed or let in anyway since we can't have pets here.
Tucker and Sara are still doing homework, and both of them want all of my and Robert's attention. So what was a slightly comical, slightly frustrating afternoon has now turned into a mini family war with lots of stomping, exasperated and exaggerated sighs, yelling, tears, and frustration.
Awesome.
Seriously.
All we wanted were some books and a cupcake.
The sun was out, the weather was beautiful. I had a Skype date planned for around noon, so I had time to straighten up and then read for a bit first. The Skype thing actually worked well for the most part (our internet here is beyond slow. So slow that we cannot use our Vonage phone at all. We're working on the solution).
It was a great day!
When I was taking the kids to school, we had decided that after school we'd go to the library, then try the cupcake place downtown. I picked the kids up, we went to the library where I discovered that I could get my own account versus the Base policy of one account per family. I hadn't asked Robert for his library card because I didn't think I'd need to. Whoops. So the kids and I had to run home and get proof of address and then go back to the library to set up my account get the books we'd picked out.
Not really a big deal.
After that, we find a place to park, finally, and we walk to the cupcake shop. On our way, we discovered that the crossing lights apparently do not work downtown. Safety first, I guess? Alrighty then. As walk up to the cupcake shop, a young girl is locking the door and the sign says, "closed". Whaaaa? Sara was devastated. But hey, what else can you do when you sell out of cupcakes by 3:30 pm? Stay open so you can tell folks, "sorry, we're sold out?"
 |
| photo from www.tumblr/com |
We made it through the grocery store and the kids, after an extraordinary and amusing amount of bickering, decided on cupcakes. We had to get a pack of 6, since apparently the grocery store only sells enormous oversized cupcakes as singles. On the upside, we ended up with six for what we would have paid for three at the downtown bakery...so there's that.
As we are trying to leave the store parking lot and go home before the bag of ice I had to buy melted in the 80 degree weather we were having, we got behind an older gentleman in a huge boat of a car (Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum fans - it's like the car she borrows from her dad) who was going all of 5 mph through this huge parking lot and braking about every 6 feet. Siiiiiiiiiigh.
I should also mention it was HOT in my car and when I get hot for no good reason, I tend to get cranky. I was overdressed for the weather, but it's cooler in the house and also, I haven't shaved in...well..way too long.
ANYWAY, so I become unreasonably aggravated at this guy and have to sincerely fight the urge to get out of my car and run up and push his car faster. Because, good grief, he was driving in the middle of the row so there was no getting past him and he obviously had the rest of the week to make it to the stoplight. Sara, ever helpful and in a huge hurry to get home and eat a cupcake, shouts out, "Move your butt, slowpoke! We don't have all day!!!!" Which, okay, I know this is awful, but it made me laugh. Which made Tucker shout out, "Learn to drive, butt munch!"
Umm, butt munch? Where on earth did he learn THAT? Wait. I don't think I want to know.
::Momentary pause for my obviously lacking parenting skills because 1) my kids have road rage before they can drive and 2) I couldn't not laugh at their outbursts.:: Sorry America.
And, while today it all just seems amusing, I was tired, hot, thirsty, and frustrated. We get home, get the groceries upstairs and unpacked, the kids get a cupcake and all should be right with the world. And then we unpack back packs and start homework.
Sara was the most upset to leave her friend Rachel and her dance class behind. So she excitedly hands me a piece of paper that announces there will be dance lessons on Friday afternoon at her school. Well, that's awesome that she could take dance lessons at school! Only I'm looking at the form and the classes started LAST Friday. Umm......It's an 8 week session for $96. That's more expensive than her former ballet school. Plus we've already missed a class, plus they aren't meeting on May 17 because it's an early dismissal day. So I can pay the eight week price for six weeks? No thanks. Sara is dramatically grief stricken when I say no. Robert chooses this really awful moment to come home and show me a letter from one of our neighbors.
The letter is regarding her cat. The cat roams freely around the neighborhood because we've seen it a number of times. One of my other neighbors already warned me about this lady and her cat. It seems she doesn't want anyone else to touch it or feed or pay it any attention, and gets very vocal if you do. Which is understandable except for the fact that the cat is out and about in the neighborhood, sometimes approaching us. I've seen it right outside our patio door on more than one occasion, and one night last week it was on our window ledge at night, looking in and silently meowing (or at least meowing so softly that we couldn't hear it). The mailbox flier gives her phone number and instructions not to let it in our house or feed it, or try to pet or interact with it. Uh, ok?!? It seems like a sweet cat. But something about the way her letter was worded just hit me wrong. Don't want people messing with your cat? Keep your cat inside. It all just seems...well, stupid. But whatever. I try to explain to Robert why I find this whole situation completely ridiculous he takes it totally personally and then and he and I are sniping at each other. All over a cat we wouldn't have fed or let in anyway since we can't have pets here.
Tucker and Sara are still doing homework, and both of them want all of my and Robert's attention. So what was a slightly comical, slightly frustrating afternoon has now turned into a mini family war with lots of stomping, exasperated and exaggerated sighs, yelling, tears, and frustration.
Awesome.
Seriously.
All we wanted were some books and a cupcake.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Belonging?
We are in our new house, 99% of all boxes are unpacked, and the moving company came on Friday and picked up all our 'moving debris'.
WHEW! Man, am I glad that's done.
The kids love the house, Robert and I love the house, and everyone that's come to see us so far has loved the house.
Here's the strange thing: three and a half years in our old house and I couldn't find my way around it in the dark. I never learned the house. It was weird. And probably a mental block since I really disliked that house from the get go.
Three weeks in our new place? I can find my way around in the dark no problem. Things that make you go hmmm.
As much as I miss my friends in Illinois (still haven't been able to make myself go to a Zumba class yet, either), I just feel like I belong in North Carolina. Trust me, no one was more surprised than I was. But I love our little town, and the feeling of community, and the fact that our neighbors have all made an effort to come and say hello (some of them with the sweetest gifts). I love the kids are in smaller classes and that the school is five minutes away. I feel like I should go around humming the theme from Green Acres, because that kind of feels like where we are living, complete (apparently) with black bears. It's always an adventure, isn't it?!!?
WHEW! Man, am I glad that's done.
The kids love the house, Robert and I love the house, and everyone that's come to see us so far has loved the house.
Here's the strange thing: three and a half years in our old house and I couldn't find my way around it in the dark. I never learned the house. It was weird. And probably a mental block since I really disliked that house from the get go.
Three weeks in our new place? I can find my way around in the dark no problem. Things that make you go hmmm.
As much as I miss my friends in Illinois (still haven't been able to make myself go to a Zumba class yet, either), I just feel like I belong in North Carolina. Trust me, no one was more surprised than I was. But I love our little town, and the feeling of community, and the fact that our neighbors have all made an effort to come and say hello (some of them with the sweetest gifts). I love the kids are in smaller classes and that the school is five minutes away. I feel like I should go around humming the theme from Green Acres, because that kind of feels like where we are living, complete (apparently) with black bears. It's always an adventure, isn't it?!!?
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