Cabin Fever.

Over the weekend, we got a foot of snow and some major snowdrifts.

(Okay, maybe not this much.)

First major snowstorm of the winter? Normally, this would warrant a "sa-weeeeeet" from me.

However, it also happened to occur right before I had the Toddler for three days straight. A Toddler who also shared her cold with us. With all of us sniffling, cars getting stuck all over the place, and temperatures below hideous, we have been
stuck
in
side
for way too long.

Luckily the roads are clearing up as snowplows make the rounds. Does this mean a trip to the grocery store? my hopeful little heart wonders.

And I'm not the only one.
Yesterday, the Toddler saw the stroller in the closet, reminiscent of our afternoon walks outside when your snot wouldn't freeze to the sides of your nostrils the moment you stepped outdoors.
"Walk? Walk??" she asked.
"No, it's too cold outside, sweetie."
And at that, this normally very level-headed baby-kid burst into tears, beside herself that we couldn't go "ooooussiiiiiide."

But oh boy, do I ever know exactly how she feels...

Click. Click. Click. Click.

So about cooking. My prediction was correct. I've spent more time in the kitchen lately trying new recipes than I have spent there in my entire life. Combined.

And I've loved every minute of it.

I'm still chasing around a (now) 19-month-old on occasion. My Baby-Rae thinks a new face to look at and learn from every so often is just peachy. Maybe someday they'll figure out what a remote control is really for. Until then, the Toddler pretends it's a phone (or "Beep-beep") and Baby-Rae just puts it in her mouth. Along with everything else she can get her hands on.

I'm trying to write a song for my sister's upcoming wedding. Here's hoping I can "git 'er done" because it's something I'd reeeeally like to do for them.

And we traded our beautiful oak table for a tall, smaller bar table so we could put the piano in the kitchen and have more room elsewhere. Baby-Rae is LOVE-ing the fact that it's right at window height. I swear she's going to grow up to be one of those creepy people who just watches everything and everyone.

She loves to...just...look.

A Limerick.

So Baby, I'm right proud to say,
You're learning to move each which way.
You used to stay still,
Now a log on a hill,
You just seem to keep rolling away...

Oil Change, Life Change.

I took the car in to get an oil change the other day. And it changed my life.

I am being a little overdramatic, I promise. But I did learn a few things while waiting for The M&M (if you ask D-Hubby, the car's name is NOT  The M&M, it's The Blue Bullet. I think The M&M is cuter) to be finished.

I went to a small, polite garage...cheaper than the quickie 10-minute places by at least $20. It meant that I definitely had longer than 10 minutes to wait. But hey, fair trade. Can't save both money and time when it comes to oil changes, apparently.
So I sat in the bare little waiting room contemplating which magazine to read. I had a choice between a hunting magazine, a fishing magazine, a car magazine, and various other manly reads. No Good Housekeeping to be found. I picked up the October 2009 issue of a business-looking magazine called Success that had Serena Williams on the cover, talking about how she has succeeded in various areas of her life...and began to read.

And what a great little read it was.

I was inspired. The magazine turned out to be more than just how-to-succeed-in-business, it was more about how to succeed at....well,....anything: life goals, business goals, big dreams, small dreams.

Some of the things I learned, and was reminded of:

-You can do a lot in a minute: fold a load of laundry, send a quick email to a friend to brighten their day, give someone a minute-long hug, etc. Basically: make your minutes count for something.


-Serena Williams doesn't read any of the articles written about her. She keeps a few and says she'll maybe read them someday...but for now, doesn't want them influencing her opinion of herself.


-Take three minutes and write down 100 life goals that you have, as fast as you can, without editing yourself.


-The greatest way to be successful is to give back to others and lift those around you.


-Think about your life goals...and then de-clutter your life. Eliminate the things that don't help you reach those goals.


-Don't fill your down-time with mindless activities. Use it to learn more about something, or helping someone else.


-Craig's List founder (Craig!) has been so successful because he's never really been in it for the money...he has always stayed focused on his original goal: to provide a service that helps people out, a business based on the Golden Rule.


-There was an article by Richard Eyre, where he talked about how success is three-dimensional (job, health, family), and family is the most important of all. He quoted C.S. Lewis as saying that homemaking (the general concept, the kind that everyone does, not only the mom-specific stuff) is the most important career of all, and that all other careers are simply to help with success in the greatest career. Eyre expounded on it, saying that we often get it backwards, thinking that the home is there to support the career... and that we need to remember the relationships that are the most important. The blurb about him at the end of the article listed all of his successes and accomplishments...and then stated that none of this compares to his relationships with wife and daughter, (insert names here). I loved that. The whole article was a profound reminder.


-And I need to read more Henry David Thoreau.

The oil was changed in about 40 minutes,
and so was I.
Just a little.
Just enough to make it count.

Silent Night.

Shout Out to the Mama and the Papa.

Marriage has taught me a lot of things. (So far.)

Like how to hold my tongue, for example. And how to apologize when I don't hold my tongue. And learning when it's okay to just say it. Gently, of course. 

Being married has also made me realize a lot of things about my own parents' marriage, the kinds of things that you don't really notice until you're in the same-ish boat. And noticing those things has taught me even more about how to go about this marriage thing, thanks to their excellent example.

Here's my biggest realization so far:
I've learned that my dad's not perfect, even though my mom always talked about him like he was.

Shocking, I know.
Now, let me explain.

From a very young age, I remember my mom often saying "When you're looking for someone to marry, find someone like your dad." When she would talk about their marriage, she almost always spoke about my dad in glowing terms, particularly praising his maturity in communication and problem-solving and his supportive-ness. It was clear that she thought very highly of him. And growing up, I just thought of him the same way because clearly he must have been all that and a bag of chips.

My mom said so, after all.

Now, on some level, I should have realized he may not have been perfect all the time. I watched my mom get frustrated with him (being the oldest child, I got to see more of the evolution of my parents' relationship than the rest of the kids, I think) and that they would have their disagreements (behind closed doors, of course...and no, I didn't spy by listening through the door....all the time...) but I just kind of assumed my dad had a good explanation and that my mom was just being ridiculous. My mom never tried to change my mind. She seemed to be okay with letting me think that. Or maybe she just didn't know I thought that.

Although I'm almost postitive she did; I'm pretty sure moms can read minds, especially my mom.
(I'm still waiting to be bestowed with this gift...)

After being married, I've realized that my dad is just as great of a husband as she thought he was. And that he isn't as great as I thought he was, because I didn't really understand why he was actually great.
I thought it was because he was perfect. She knew he wasn't. But she talked about his greatness, and left his weaknesses for me to discover on my own, when I was mature enough to look on those weaknesses with understanding and compassion instead of the disdain and anger that my mom and her weaknesses had to suffer (more than I care to admit) as a result of my teenage arrogance and ignorance. It allowed me to love and respect my father greatly growing up, to listen to him and his counsel when I wouldn't listen to anyone else.

(I was SUCH a brat.)

Now I know why my dad is so great; it's not because he was perfect, but because he did a really good job of working at being a great husband and father. He really is the ultimate example of both those titles. Whenever I was mad and letting loose on my mom, he would be quick to say, "don't talk to my girlfriend like that!" which usually diffused the situation as my mom or someone else giggled and I rolled my eyes. So silly.

Being married has let me see some of the ways he might have had his share of being ridiculous when it came to their relationship, too, things I might not have noticed before...but really, it's all just given me a greater appreciation for both of those great people I call my parents.
Both my mom and my dad have set the bar high when it comes to how to treat your spouse. And I'm only hoping that I can live up to the example they've set....somehow.

Until then, I'm still trying really hard to train that tongue of mine.


New year's resolution number two hundred and fifty-three: Increase my self-control...

A Superman New Year.

Oh, blog, how I've missed you.

I'm not even kidding a little. I wasn't lying when I said that I love to write. Or when I said that this was mostly an online journal. All these thoughts I have in my head want OUT.

So first of all: I'm starting the forty-forty again. My timing wasn't so great; I started right before Christmas vacay...when any kind of scheduled anything majorly suffers. So that's my excuse. And I'm starting again. (ec, you with me?)

Second, an announcement: D-Hubby and I have set a goal to hike the West Coast Trail this summer!
I am beyond excited.
There are, however, some things to consider with this mammoth, bucket-list goal of ours:
Hiking the WCT is not cheap. It's a looong ways away, gas is expensive. We have pretty good gear, but we'll need a few extras (read: waterproof everything) to be prepared. It costs to make the reservation, and it costs to actually make the week-long hike because a guide has to come with you and your little group. SOooo....we've taped an impressively hand-written label on a former Miracle Whip jar and it sits on our dresser, collecting all the dollars and cents we can spare.
And then there's physical preparedness: hiking the WCT is not easy. There are 30-stinkin-stories of straight-up ladders you have to climb. And all while packing everything you need to survive on your back.

Whew. Gym, here I come.
(Think they'll let me train on the Stairmaster with a backpack full of rocks?)

As an extra goal for the endurance side of my own physical preparedness, I want to run a 10k at some point before then. I'm on the lookout for one.

(Okay, my heart is totally beating faster after typing that all out and thinking about it all over again...SO EXCITED!)

I love a new year.
Or anytime, really, where you set goals and rededicate yourself to being something more than mediocre. Those are the times where I feel like I can do...anything (if you could see me right now, I'd be standing and flexing like Superman...minus the red undies on the outside of my outfit.)

See?

Well, maybe a slightly more masculine version of what's happening over here.

But just as inspiring.

Ha.

"Back to Life. Back to Reality."

I'm pretty sure that I may be the only one who still gets that old school Soul II Soul number stuck in their head occasionally.
(If you click on the link, be warned: there are some serious shoulder pads going on.)

Anyways.

We're back! The last two weeks were spent on the road, hanging out, enjoying the company of family and friends, and eating WAaaaYyy too much.

Yumm...

And I've returned with all the beginning-of-the-year gusto to be better than I was last year.
And with a couple monster blog posts rolling around in my head.
Now all I need is the time to spit them out...

Until then, loving 2010.