Think of a Wonderful Thought!

Any happy little thought! (Peter Pan theme song.) Jeff, Lauren and I just got back from our vacation in California. We had a wonderful time and did everything on our list.

We ate at "In and Out", went to the beach (even though it was rainy and overcast), headed to Santee Alley, and played for an entire day at Disneyland. Jeff's only disappointment with our Disneyland day was that we weren't the first ones in line when they opened the gates. He thought that maybe there would be a grand entrance for the first devoted Mousekateers!

I have to start at the very beginning. The highlight at DIA, and proof that old age doesn't equate to maturity level, were the automatic, industrial hand dryer's in the ladies' restroom. If you hold your hands a certain way, it makes a farting noise!

Lauren was overstimulated from the get go. She waved at all the other passengers, screamed

excitedly out the window before takeoff, and had we packed any less fruit

snacks we might have been in trouble with her ears popping.

Saturday morning, we all got up and by the crack of noon were out to the beach. It was spring weather, so we didn't wear suits. We just rock hopped, shoreline dipped our toes, and Jeff got

soaked by an oncoming wave hitting a group of rocks. The best find of the day? A vibrant red crab!

Sunday, we literally hung out all day at my in-laws. We went on a walk to a nearby park, and if one thing other than the weather and the beach would get me to move to California, it would definitely be all the green. I love how green the parks there are. Lauren and her cousin love playing on the playground, and Lauren started quaking, "QUACK" more clearly!

Monday, we headed downtown to Santee Alley, which is like Chinatown to San Francisco, only people there call it "Mexicotown" because there are way more South American shop owners than oriental. We found the good finds, bought the good buys, and bargained the already good bargains. Jeff expertly negotiated a $125.00 watch down to $120.00. With the $5.00 saved, I was able to buy a belt and 4 different neon colored nail polishes. Screamin' DEAL!

Tuesday, well, Tuesday deserves it's own post. So, stay tuned for pictures and details about our Disneyland Day!!!!

Finding my Quarter in the Sandbox

Every once in a while I like to read a church book, light reading, about inspirational or uplifting stories. The latest one I read was about a little girl going into 1st grade on her first day of the school year. She was so excited and even had her best outfit picked out.

The story goes on telling that on the morning of the first day of first grade, she spills breakfast all over herself and has to change. That, in turn, makes her late for her bus. As she runs to catch the bus she trips and gets cuts and scrapes everywhere, then the bus door opens and smacks her face, giving her a bloody nose and two black and bruised eyes. Yet, she insists on going to school. At recess, she falls on the playground and just before she blacks out, she sees something shiny and grabs it. When she wakes up, she's in the nurses office all bloody and bandaged. When her mom runs in, distressed and worried, she tries to console her daughter and asks if she wants to come home. The first grader simply says, with a huge smile on her face, "Look, Mom! I found a quarter!"

I love this story, because contrary to the little girl having such a horrible day, it just took one little positive to turn this child's day right around. Anyone else might just give up. I like the idea of having a positive attitude and trying to find one good thing in every day, in every situation. But the other night.... I'm ashamed to say it didn't happen that easy for me.

Jeff and I went to our favorite burger place to eat dinner. As he was giving us his usual rundown of his day, Lauren and I played and listened. All of a sudden, she reached out and grabbed my drink, pulling it down and spilling Coke all over me (white t-shirt and all!) It even got all over my favorite shoes. The entire time we ate, I worried over my shoes and if they were ruined.

I'm not going to lie. I had a really hard time finding my quarter in the sandbox. I read about the girl's story earlier that day so I was constantly trying to find a positive from this situation. I think it wasn't until a few days later when my shoes dried and I tried them on that I finally found mine. Instead of my shoes smelling like feet, they smelled sweet and sugary!

I think the key for me is to always be looking for the positives, even if I can't always find them right away!

What do you do when....

What do you do when you have so much to tell your husband, but he can't answer his phone because his new job demands most to all of his attention? Well, I blog. In the midst of my "That 70's Show" marathon, I realized maybe I've been watching too much 70's. I started listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, wearing a lot of colors (I used to be a jeans and white t-shirt kind of girl), decorating my kitchen in orange, yellows, and greens, and shopping for floral printed clothing. I've come a long way from when I used to ask, "Led Zeppelin, who is he?" I decided to watch the news the other day, and was informed that our government might shut down tomorrow because of the budget dilemmas. It reminded me of a bumper sticker Jeff and I saw: "We live within our means, please tell the president." It was a good one. Anyway, one of the newscasters on this segment was talking about how our generation doesn't know the meaning of sacrifice. Back in the 50's up through probably the 80's, men entered into the draft, went off to war, came home and got a job, provided for their families, etc. He said, "...today's generations probably think they are making a sacrifice if they don't have the I-Pad 2." Then, I felt guilty. What have I sacrificed? I barely lasted one month of my spending fast. I constantly think how cool would it be if everything you owned fit into one suitcase? But, do I live that way? Not exactly. After my latest spending-spree two weeks ago, I felt some buyer's remorse, but I couldn't find one thing that I was willing to give up. After some thought, I decided the only thing to do was to start another spending fast. It started April 1st, and lasted till April 4th. So today I felt a compulsive returning session coming on. I returned $70.00 worth of merchandise today. I'm going to start spending fast #2 (technically #3) on Monday, April 11th. I'm going to prove to myself that I can sacrifice!

Leftovers

I haven't written in so long that all I have are random bits and pieces of thoughts. A lot like leftovers. You don't have an entire entree or meal, all you have are Tupperwares of cold corn, lettuce salad, french bread, and 1/4 casserole dish of lasagna. And hence, my leftovers post.

Tupperware thought #1: I've been thinking a lot lately of my dream job. I still love working at Costco and although it's the early shift, I love the physical elements. On the days I feel like quitting (usually the initial 3 days when I get back from vacation) all I have to do is talk to a coworker who has been with the company for a couple years. Then, I am reminded of the great benefits, the pay raise scale, and the awesome bonuses you get after serving the company for x amount of hours! Anyway, my dream job I've decided is to write. Write books, children's books, young adult fiction, historical fiction, freelance, etc. The only problem? The other day when I was at Barnes and Noble with Kelly and my nephew, I got to thinking that I don't even buy books. For me, it is borderline a waste of money because why buy a book you're only going to read once when you could just rent from the library? So, I decided I'll keep my dream job as my great hobby: blogging.

Tupperware thought #2: One of my favorite TV shows growing up was "That 70's Show" and still is. We don't get cable, so you could imagine my sheer joy when I found ALL 8 SEASONS on Netflix!!!! Since mid-February I've been having a "That 70's Show" marathon. Don't ask me how, but where I thought it would take me 8 months to finish them (one month per season) I am currently all the way through 6 seasons and halfway through season 7. I love the 70's. Also, I'm learning life lessons such as, there were recessions in the 70's (and throughout history) so we shouldn't get so down about the ones we are going through. Learn from them: yes. Get depressed: try not to. Stay positive. It reminds me to keep my head up, that things turned around in history, they will turn around for our futures. It also makes me wonder, did no one in the 70's wear a bra, or is that just part of the show?

Having been obsessed with this series leads into my 3rd Tupperware....

Tupperware thought #3: If you are going to hoard something, why not try and hoard something productive that you could turn into a business? Like, I would hoard buttons. Then, I would make a store, call it something cliche like "Cute as a Button" and sell crafts that I make with buttons in them. If my hoarding was really extreme, I might buy a few dressers, fill the drawers with buttons, and sell the buttons along with the crafts. I would have called it "The Button Boutique", but someone beat me to it. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ButtonBoutique

(Who knew there were so many button crafts!!!)

I would love to attempt to make this clock!

Tupperware thought #4: I miss getting up any day of the week and going for a 90-minute marathon training run. That would also mean I miss not having to start work till sometime after 11:00 am. But, mainly I miss feeling great and in an "exclusive group" of the few who have a resting heart rate below 50 beats per minute. That lead to thought of what life would be like if I didn't have a baby. (It is okay to mention this thought because every book about having kids that I've read say this is a natural and normal thought.) I thought of all the restful nights I would be having, messes I wouldn't have to clean up, laundry bill going down down down, being able to run to the store on a whim and have it take less than 30 minutes, having a full time job, taking my 90-minute marathon training runs, and did I mention GETTING SLEEP?!? Wow, that's just to name a few....

But, that would mean I would miss out on raising a baby, cuddling and kisses, having someone who needs me and loves me unconditionally at every hour of the day, playing and creating, being creative, finally getting to buy those miniature outfits that are adorable, having so much in common with so many people and swapping stories, feeling like I have something so special and worthwhile in my life, feelings of accomplishment that outweigh any other project or event thus far, and logging every first-->first smile, first giggle, first crawl, first tooth, first steps, first time I caught her climbing in the dryer...to name a few! I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything in the world! Not even a lifetime supply of 8-9 hours of sleep every night!

And those are my leftovers. I hope you enjoyed!

Proof that your mom can dance, Lauren!

...She just doesn't always bend her limbs!

Pea Poo and Defining a mental health need

I've had a long weekend, do these constitute a "need" under the mental health clause?

On an unrelated note, Lauren has been eating more solids, and her...poo's have been...how do I put this....fascinating in the name of scientific wonder. I tried to take a picture, and luckily it didn't turn out, not that anyone but a mother would care to see her baby's poo; but, I've been giving her little bites of "big kid" food and her poo literally had a full edamame pea right there, perfectly intact, like it never went through her system. Below, I've tried to capture the image in a painting. I'll warn you, it's graphic:

Fascinating, I know. It's amazing what can and cannot make it through our systems.

Regrets

Have you ever done something you deeply regretted? No, I didn't break my spending fast on that $1.00 bag of mixed buttons at Porter's Craft Store. And, I don't regret spending half of my don't ask money on a traditional Valentine's Day gift exchange for my sisters.

I actually won't get into what I regret doing, and, I can't even give you a ballpark range for the event that brought on this post. I guess why I'm writing is because we all have something in our lives that we wish we could take back. This is the first time that I've spent the past 3 days at work (5 hours each) replaying in my head what happened over and over, when I realized how much energy and time is wasted thinking about this thing.

I once clipped out of a magazine a quote from Drew Barrymore, where she said, "I never regret anything. Because every little detail of your life is what made you into who you are in the end."

So, I can only keep going and learn from this. It's like I told my clients in my PSR days, "forget about yesterday, it's a whole new day." We get a new chance everyday to be the person we want to be. If I'm trying to not gossip about people, I only have today to say nice things. If I want to treat everyone the way I would like to be treated, I only have today to set an example.

Mistakes will inevitably be made along the way, but you learn to laugh off the small ones, apologize and make restitution for the big ones, and spend everyday striving to be the person you make your mind up to be.