Love each other, or not if it’s a parking lot

We attend Hales Corners Lutheran Church .  It’s a large church though not one of those mega-we love God and that’s what counts-churches.    In fact the small church where HCL began to preach the word of God is still there, it’s now called the chapel and the grade school has grown around it.  Jason and I got married in the chapel.

Because it’s a large church the parking lot is huge and the Sunday 9:15 service is the one to be at most weeks so once the services are over and all the families pile into their mini vans and station wagons to head home the parking lot becomes, well, a parking lot.  Cars are bumper to bumper waiting their turns to exit the lot in the only exit on to a fairly busy road.  As a side note, that was a really bad design decision.

This Sunday as we sat and waited, the car in neutral and the parking brake on, I started to notice something.

Some of the worst moments of rude driving were happening here, in the church parking lot.  Everyone knows the rules, you let one car in front of you then you can move.  Then they let one car in front of them, so on and so on.  Traffic keeps moving along and people are able to get into line without having to play a game of chicken.  But people weren’t doing that.  They were closing the gap with the car in front of them so that others couldn’t nose their way in.

Then I saw a car packed with small children winding its way around the line of traffic, using the pick up line to get ahead of the pack then bully a driver in the front of the line into letting them in.

Really, in a church parking lot?  Did we not just leave services where we heard a sermon on love.  Were you thinking that Pastor Mike only meant “love always, unless you’re in your car.  then be a giant jack ass.”

Honestly I realize that the majority of people in the parking lot were actually polite and just as eager as we all were to get home and have brunch or get their Sunday roast in the oven.  It’s not as if any of us felt the urge to flee church like children at summer break yelling “FREEEEE!! WE ARE FREEEE!!!”

Come on people!  The parking lot has one narrow exit and we all have to use it and this isn’t a new thing.  We’ve been at that site for almost a decade now.  Yes, we should have another exit and yes often time the HCPD is there directing traffic on big church days because of this bottle neck.  But if everyone tried to leave in an orderly and polite way there wouldn’t be a need to cut off little old ladies who really only drive on Sundays.

I’m finally fashionable!

In the way back, long long ago time of the 1990’s I was in High School ,where your life revolves around being cool and in style,  pin-straight-no curl-no wave hair was the thing thanks in part to Friends (which was the super cool show to watch in the far ago time.)

My sister has this wonderfully thick straight shiny hair.  Hair that you see and you think “wow man, that is some pretty hair.”  I envied her because she just washed with whatever shampoo she had on hand, let it air dry and without fail it was picture perfect.

Over in my room I was struggling to fit into the mold our peers cast for us.  See my hair is super thick and wavy.  If I ever dared let it air dry the frizz could be seen from space.  Straightening it was a nightmare of two products, special shampoo, hair dryers with special attachments, curling irons and hot irons.  Much to my dismay there would still be kinks in the back and frizz in the front.  In the end I simply put it into a pony tail or braided it still wet and went about my day dreaming of that one thing that could make my hair look like my sisters while envying the straight hair of my friends.

There was no taming the beast on my head.  My mom would constantly tell me she wished she had my hair, hair I inherited from my now bald father, so thick! so wavy! so full of body!  Her girlfriend who is a hair stylist has hair similar to mine and overheard mom one day.  She simply looked at my mom and flat-out told her that no one should wish for our hard to manage and extremely difficult to cut hair.  Mom didn’t believe her.

Times, they are a’changing.  Messy, wavy out of control hair is the in thing!  My stars, am I finally fashionable?  I am!  I am!!  Women all over the us are using two products, braids, hair dyers with attachments and pins to do what come naturally to me.  There are hair products galore that women use to get what I got but that I use just to keep the frizzies down.

For once women look at me and wish they could do what takes me 5 minutes tops in the morning.  I’m free from the pressure to chop my hair short in trying to make it easier for me to wrestle it into straight lines.  No more warming up curling irons and flat irons.  No more burns!  It may have taken nearly 15 years but I finally have the hair of the in crowd.

Don’t get too excited fellow Republicans

So, Scott Brown was elected to the U.S. Senate.  To a seat that Sen. Ted Kennedy held for 47 years.  In Massachusetts.

I can see where Republican’s could get a lot giddy about that.  Massachusetts is pretty damn blue but the people who live there are very independent and don’t like being seen as push overs.

Martha Coakley really didn’t run the greatest of campaigns and why would she think she needed too?  She slammed her opponents in the primary and Brown was pretty down in the polls for a good deal of the race.  But a perfect storm hit the voters of Massachusetts and Coakley make some pretty big mistakes in off the cuff remarks.

Here’s the thing, the voters didn’t vote just for Scott Brown and this wasn’t a vote against Pres. Obama or the Health Care Bill.  They voted for him because voters are sick and tired of being taken for granted, for our elected officials continuing to dismiss our worries and because we’re all making less and spending more on basic needs while we’re being told that another set of taxes is for our own good.

It was a warning shot to the Democrats but that’s mostly because they are the ones in power now.  Though, to be, honest I’m not sure how the hell they aren’t getting their agenda accomplished.  They have a greater majority than Pres. Bush did when he was legislating for 8 years.  Jon Stewart said it best: “It’s not that the Republicans are playing chess while the Democrats play checkers.  It’s that the Republicans are playing chess and the Democrats are in the nurses office because they glued their nuts to their thighs again.”

No, the Republicans won a victory here because they are the only option.  If the party really wants to continue the momentum into the 2010 elections they need to stand  for something not just against the Democrats.   They also have to get on board with Health Care and be more out there with what they want to see to make it affordable and remove barriers to people obtaining it.

The Republicans also need to have a plan on how to fix people’s paychecks.  And tax cuts aren’t the only options, people get testy when they think the people with money are getting all the breaks.

Voters still remember Pres. Bush and are a lot hesitant to vote for Republicans again.  In short, we need more Republicans who aren’t Christian Conservatives.  We need Fiscal Conservatives who are more worried about limiting the scope of big government, allowing the States to govern themselves and staying out of people private lives and bedrooms.

While the Christian Conservative movement brought the party into power in the 90’s that isn’t going to work in the 2010’s.  Young people aren’t coming on board with the platform because they think of the GOP as anti-gay, anti-minority and anti-anything but white Christians.   If the party wants to survive and thrive it needs to prove that it’s not.

In short, the Republicans need a make over by November 2010.  I’m sure they will pick seats up in the House and Senate but unless they actually begin to show people that there is room for them under the big tent it will be a short-lived victory.

The Christmas Craft

Ok so I’m really late posting this, I work full time and have a toddler who makes Flash Gordon seem slow, things can get out of hand.  So here they are, Snow Globe Soaps.  A lovely Pea from www.twopeasinabucket.com shared these.

So what do you need?

Glycerin how much depends on how much soap you want to make

Scent, any kind you want.  I went with an almond vanilla.  But make sure it’s ]for soap making

Molds, I used both regular ice cube trays and round soap molds.

Food coloring, I recommend the cheap liquid ones because the color isn’t too concentrated.  I found that out the hard way.

Glitter for soaps, don’t use regular glitter, it’ll stick to your soap recipients making them look like crazed woodland fairies.

Small, very small charms.

White soap, Dove works great.

First, take the glycerin and chop it up good.

Then melt it on low heat on the stove.  LOW HEAT! Don’t melt all of it, reserve about, oh a row of the blocks or two.

Once it’s all melty add your pretty smelly liquid.  A tiny bit goes a long, long way.

Then add your color.  These were Christmas night ones so I used blue.

Now add glitter

See, remember when I said use the cheapo liquid colors?  That’s why.  I didn’t have those so I used a tiny bit of my gel ones.  Way, way, way too dark.

Now pour into your molds but not to the top.  Leave room for your Dove and clear soap.

Now, while you’re waiting for these to start setting up shred your Dove (or white) soap.

See how it’s done?

Now, wash that pot (it’s just soap in there people) and melt the soap you reserved.  Don’t color it or add anything to it, just melt it down nice and melty good.

Ok, good, now the molds you poured should be firm but not hard, you don’t want hard.  Now put your charms in the middle of the molds.  Remember you want to put them in upside down.

Using a straightened paperclip will help you center it if you need too.

And put the shredded Dove on top, don’t pack in in though.  Leave it nice and loose.

And pour your clear glycerin on top

Leave to harden completely and pop out of the molds when they are hard.  I sorta forgot to get a photo of the completed soaps, but they were a hit with the girls at the office.

Clean up

There are far too many links in my bookmarks that I never use.  I always save websites or pages thinking I’ll use them one day. But one day never comes and I get to search though a list to find the few I want.

It’s not that is difficult to find the ones I want but I often forget the ones I have.  Like the links on this blog, some of the sites I just am not that into anymore yet I’m pimping them out to my three readers.  Sometimes I’ll see a gem and remember why I took the time to bookmark them and file them away, because it’s labor intensive to do so right?  But I’ll click on the link and enjoy the site or page a bit then forget it’s even there.

I have to confess, my computer and computer desk are a mess.  No matter what I do to try to keep them in order cat hair, office supplies, programs and games all end up congregating around them.  I keep thinking to myself “I will PURGE THEM ALL!” but then I take an hour after Kyle falls asleep to watch some Hero’s or NCIS or Mythbusters and by the time I drag myself here I’m tired, Marble cat is demanding my attention and Jason has left a plate and cup on the desk and I just don’t want to spend the time to clean up what will become a mess again.

I’ll be even more honest, clutter makes me crazy.  After looking at it for weeks I’ll get antsy and angry and irrational.  I’ll want to throw everything out yet keep it because it’s not all mine.  I want to remove games from the desktop and disk clean up but I just don’t.  It’s like clutter is not only taking over my mind but my actions.

See, like after I saw all the links and though “I gotta get rid of this crap so I can make room for cooler crap” I came here and posted a blog on crap.

Ok, instead of whining about it how about I run the disk clean?  Tonight, the computer, tomorrow the desk!

Why I love Holiday weekends

I love long Holiday weekends and it’s not because I don’t have to go to work for three days. It’s because I can accomplish things.

When there are three days when I can take care of the house, play with Kyle and run errands I can actually take a nap and spread the housework love. And hell, I have time for a bath!

And this one was even more productive. Jason’s mom took Kyle over night on New Year’s Eve. I’d love to say we went out and spent the night being crazy and free but I was in bed by 12:30am and slept until 9:30ish. It felt so wonderful to wake up and not feel like I would trade a kidney for another 15 minutes.

Not only did this and last years nominee for Best Mother-in-Law take Private over night but she hung out with him all day. I was able to do laundry, change bedding and clean the kitchen without guilt.

Today started well again. Kyle woke mommy up with kisses and so far I’ve made a pit of turkey noodle soup, cleaned and purged a cabinet and cleaned a counter top. This afternoon Kyle wants to make cookies so the butter is softening.

The older I get the more I understand that there is a lot of joy to be found in just being with no hurry, no pressing needs. I’ve got a little guy dancing to the music with egg and chocolate on his face. It’s not just me showing him new things in life, it’s him reminding me of old thing.

The end of one thing is the start of another

I’m here working away the last day of 2009 until 4pm. It’s not really a hassle to work on New Year’s Eve for me, when I was young and went out I didn’t go until 8 or 9. Now that I’m old I crave a fireplace and my PJ’s along with starting the new year with a solid nights sleep.

2009 wasn’t the best year but there has been more than a few things that have made the year one I don’t need to forget.

Kyle turned 1, Jason and I are making headway with our finances, I’m working full time and Jason and I are still as solid as we were when we got married. I’ve even lost some weight.

My sister in law and I have gotten closer, I got to visit with Sara and Michael. I’ve been able to connect with old friends and strengthen old ones.

I wish I could say that all of the tension and stress of life was gone but that won’t ever be the case. I’m happy that I can cope in heathly ways and seeing Kyle smile at me is one of the best.

This weekend I’ll have to write up goals for 2010 because I need to work for something to do anything. I think most people are that way though.

A very happy 2010 to everyone. May this decade be better than your last.

Christmas Christmas Time is Here!!!!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we did here. Kyle’s so happy with all his new toys he is wandering around saying “car” because, you know, he got a dealership worth of cars from Grammie. He hops from one car to the next with the happy cry “caah!”.

Sadly my mom ended up sick on Christmas day so we moved my families celebration to Sunday. So we stayed in our jammies and I played with my new Wii games, Kyle crashed trucks and Jason played Farmville.

Jason did a lot more than that. He really let me relax and did laundry, picked up the kitchen, the living room and cleaned up cat pee. Marble cat peed on my bed on Christmas Eve. I don’t think she’ll be with me much longer.

This morning I woke up to find my neat new coffee maker ready to brew. And when I say neat I mean this thing is so neat that I want to hug it and never let it go. It has one of those insulated pots. It kept my pot hot for 3 hours and the last cup didn’t have that burned gross stale funk to it. It tasted just as good as the first cup. I’m a very happy girl.

Jason and I couldn’t afford gifts for each other but yesterday proved that you don’t need a mountain of money or a car full of gifts to give just the right thing from your heart.

Ok, so I slack.

I admit, I slacked out on my blog.  Sitting at the computer writing didn’t seem like much fun to me for a while.  Why?  Because of the cold.  I’m bundled under a blanket on the couch most nights now.  Yes, I have the app for the BlackBerry but, then my hand is sticking out and it gets cold.  Cold is bad m’kay?

Anyway, I snuck in here today to talk about something very important.  Tiger?  No.  The Health Care bill?  Nope.  Cap in Trade?  Nah huh.  I came to talk about coffee.

Yes, coffee.  If I could hook an IV up full of caffeine I’d do it.  My mean doctor won’t do it though, something about me being an addict.  What does she know?  (I say about the woman who’s barley out of her 40’s, with 6 kids and a thriving primary care practice.) 

Once, I drank coffee solely in the morning.  A few cups of joe then I’d swap to Diet Pepsi.  I couldn’t eat dinner with a cup of coffee, it seemed weird.  Forget having a cup when I got home from work, I’d never sleep. 

Nowadays though; I can drink a pot with hardly a break in my step.  I’m starting to covet coffee accessories, travel mugs made of stainless steel with a self-closing function.  A coffee maker that brews the coffee then keeps it warm inside and not in a pot to burn. 

And don’t even think about trying to get me to extol Starbucks over priced, overly sweet concoctions.  Nope, gimme a can of Folgers, some flavored creamer and I’m a happy, happy girl. 

It’s so bad that Kyle, at an age when he mimics his mommy (and daddy, but mostly mommy right now), will play with an empty plastic mug, drinking his air coffee with me in the morning.  In fact, my coffee cup is something he can’t resist if it’s left on it’s own.  And yes, he actually drinks the coffee if I leave it in his reach.  A caffeinated almost 2 year old is bad.  Very, very, ver bad. 

I can’t even remember what my life was like before this elixir of life.  How did I stay awake much less function?  When I was pregnant I cut way, way, way back.  As soon as I gave birth the nurse was finding me a full on caffeinated Diet Pepsi.  The next day I wandered across the hall to grab my cup before I called the nurses to bring in my son.  Not that coffee was more important than him, because it wasn’t, but because I knew once I had him in my arms again I wouldn’t want to leave him for even that moment to grab a cup and I wasn’t going to bug the nurses for a cup either. 

So coffee, I sleep, breath, drink and eat coffee.  Now off to brew the pot for work.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near…

It actually is.  On Halloween I gave up and finally gave in.  Christmas starts at noon on Halloween.  The commercials said so.  The malls said so.  The stores said so.  It must be true.  Christmas is a 2 month-long celebration now.

 

That snark said, we have begun Christmas shopping.  We’ve gotten in the habit of starting sooner rather than later.  With more people to buy for and a little guy who Santa comes to visit we just can’t afford to wait until December to start.  So far my dad is done, my brother-in-law is done.  Three nieces are too.  Kyle’s started.

 

I also began some crafts, which I’ll share after Christmas because some people who will receive them are reading this.  They are small stocking stuffers, but fun and in the spirit of my whole “I wanna be more creative and stuff” kick.

 

As soon as my dad bring it over, I’m going to start Kyle’s big gift.  When my grandfather was in high school he made a large wooden box in tech ed.  That box became my mom’s toy box, then mine.  For the last decade it’s been sitting in my mom’s bedroom being used to store sweaters.  Now it will be Kyle’s toy box.

 

The box is in good shape, structure wise but its showing it’s years.  Thankfully my dad made the effort to teach me how to do basic carpentry as well as how to sand, prime and paint.  My plan is to sand the box down, add new legs.  Then I’m going to prime and paint it and stencil Kyle’s name onto it.  I’m going to cover the lid with batting and fabric so he has his own little seat and install break hinges so it won’t slam on him.  I want to at least get the sanding down while it’s still warm so working in the garage won’t suck as bad.  If I don’t get the painting done I can use dad’s portable heater.

 

I’m really excited about it.  Right now Kyle has a dresser in his room that was his daddy’s.  Jason’s Uncle Earl stripped it and refurnished it for him, now he’ll have something from my childhood too.  I’m also excited that I’ll have more room to store the toys that are spilling everywhere.

Speaking of, I need to go through them and soon.  I need to back up and donate the ones he no longer plays with and the ones he’s outgrown to make room for all the new stuff he’ll get.

 

Now, to go get him out of the fire-place….