Adventures in Juggling

Today’s question to lose sleep pondering over is brought to us by my daughter Holly.

Who uses toenail clippers to cut their hair?

Apparently her client today does. Sounds like something from an episode of Shear Genius.

Right now it’s very quiet here under the Big Top.

Abby is away at youth camp. Bill, Jodie and Zoë are playing tourists in Las Vegas this week while Jodie also competes in Nationals. Holly, Daniel and Hazel are currently sleeping and me, I’m enjoying the quiet.

I guess I should now say something about it being too quiet and how I yearn so much for the ruckus and chaos that is life under the Big Top.

A “good wife and mommy” would I imagine. She would. That’s so like her.

I won’t.

Tonight I am going to sit back for maybe another hour longer and just take in the quiet.

• World Peace
• A Greener Planet
• Good Health
• Prosperity
• Kindness
• Honesty
• the joy of watching my children’s excitement, joy and genuine, honest surprise as they see their gifts for the first time
• and bright, shiny, sparkly bling

That’s all. I’m not too greedy am I?

What do you want?

Just when some grinch(es) tries to steal what gives me joy this time of year, these two manage to patch up some of the holes in my broken heart.

:::sigh::::

Anyone know how I can bottle up their tenderness, their guilelessness, their sense of wonder? I want to take it with me everywhere I go. More importantly, I don’t ever want to see them lose it. It’s what makes them so precious to me.

Thank you Jodie and Daniel.

If a blogger writes and posts their thoughts and no one is around to read them, did the blogger really have that thought at all?

Remember when I shared wisdom from a coffee cup? I love reading these things on my Starbucks cup. One way or another, they manage to provoke a little thought and as confused as I am capable of being, I need all the thought provocation I can get.
Yesterday proved to be a cool, blustery day with the promise of the next season just around the corner so I forsaked my usual summertime vente non-fat iced white mocha no whip for a hot non-fat white mocha no whip. Of course this confused the baristas because Holly wasn’t there but soon enough, I had my hot cup of caffeine goodness as I headed off to work. Once there I took the time to read the latest installment of The Way I see It. This was so good that I just had to share it with y’all. So here you are, a little wisdom from a coffee cup:

All children need a laptop. Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, dads, grannies and grandpas, aunts, uncles ~ someone to hold them, read to them, teach them. Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred previous generations. Loved ones who will pass on to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes and their dreams.
~General Colin L. Powell
Founder of America’s Promise~ The Alliance for Youth

Speaking of reading…
Today is Read Across America. Share your lap with a child you love and read together!

It’s not what you think. I may have been an Annie Oakely wannabe while growing up back in the day but guns are banned here under the Big Top…unless they are of the lego variety. No, these are random, very random thoughts running through my brain. Perhaps it is that dye seping into my scalp or maybe because Vampira is sleep deprived but I have a lot on my mind.

• the kids are heading back to school in FIVE days!!!! SQUEEEE!!!!
• the insane juggling season has begun: Abby has competition cheer, Jodie tried out for and made the competition dance team along with two solos, Daniel starts up tumbling class again and, for fun, added hip-hop so he can shake his booty and Zoë will be taking the test for her learner’s permit in two weeks.
• so I wonder which car will Zoë be driving to practice after she gets the permit? My vote (and Zoë’s) is Bill’s new Lexxus. What do y’all think?
• Daniel’s feet are so tiny…echo how tiny are they?…they are so tiny that they don’t make hip-hop dance shoes in his size. No problem says the dance teacher; get jazz shoes. His feet are so tiny that thy don’t make jazz shoes in his size. No problem says the dance teacher; get ballet shoes. SCORE! My boy is oh so proud of his “pretty” little black ballet flats with the t-straps and bows. I’m blogging this because I know someday I will have to defend why my boy is wearing “girl” shoes for hip-hop class.
• I just started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ( a book a week). SURPRISE! Harry is back at Hogwarts! So I am slow but look at everything else going on. I am simultaneously enjoying the series and bonking myself on the forehead like “I could have had a V-8 style”. To think I waited all this time. I am enjoying the discussions with the kids as I finish each book.
• just two days after the cemetery photo post, I found myself hanging out at a cemetery. Bill’s great-aunt Wanda passed away. We weren’t super close but she was always kind to our circus act and she was Mama Yowell’s little sister so we were there for Mama (Bill’s grandmother), Wanda’s daughter and her grandkids (our cousins and friends). It was a nice service befitting a nice lady and remionder that funerals are for the living, not the dead.
• PreemieCon 2007 has been cancelled….ugh! I could have used the continuing ed credits and the time to myself. Oh well. Someday I will get to visit our nation’s Capitol. I wonder what I should do with my refunds?
• Bill is out of town this week at DCI 2007 World Championship reliving his high school drum corps glory days. If you see him, say hello and tell him he needs to call his wife and tell her he misses her oh so much and loves her oodles and gobs and kibbles and bits. Better yet, send her flowers.
• …and come home bearing gifts….shiny, sparkly gifts to show how much he misses the mother of his five children…wbo would have called him often to tell him hi, miss you, love you, wish you were here.

So perhaps I am just a little bit fake. Thanks for the comments and emails that validated what I was feeling.
Sometimes, while mired in the usual everyday shit: bills to pay, kids’ hijinks, teen angst, husbands, pets and weeds taking over what should be a flower bed, I find myself wanting to blog it all in all of its ugliness. Then I stop and think about it. People might actually read this.
OMG?!
They’ll kno-ow!
They’ll discover that I can’t juggle it all oh-so-perfectly, as if no one didn’t already figure that out.
But sometimes when things are crappy and I log on to my little blog here, I wonder what to do. I could rant and rave and vent away. I might feel a little bit better and I might have some folks calling out, “you go, girl!” But I might say things I might regret too and like it or not, once I put it out there, it is out there. This personal blog isn’t just about me and when I am on a tear I have to remember that.
So instead of completely unloading a big, stinky pile of dirty laundry I did ten other things.

1. Turned off the computer and walked away.
2. Read a few more chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
3. Did a couple loads of laundry.
4. Enjoyed a little retail therapy. Who cares if it was back to school supplies, it felt good to shop!
5. Made strawberry shortcake.
6. Sorted through our Disney vacation photos.
7. Started our Disney scrapbook and completed 7 pages.
8. Soaked in the hot tub
9. Made myself a pomegranate margarita.
10. Took this picture of my silly, silly little circus clowns.

BTW, Anthony, I am not sure why my blog is loading so slow for you. I know it takes forever for me when I use IE so I use Firefox. I’ll try to figure it out.

Ever have one of those days where you feel like a big, fat, hairy faker?
You look at what people see on the exterior and cringe a little telling yourself that is so not who you are.
What would happen if people found out that your life isn’t really what it seems complete with a wonderful, loving husband who worships the ground you walk on and still acts like you are dating even after 25 years and wonderful, kind, loving children? What if they peeked into your house and saw that it is a complete disaster?
What would happen?
Oh well, back to reality…and laundry!

Do one thing everyday that scares you.
~Unknown~

Just one thing? Frankly, somedays it seems just getting out of bed and looking at my self in the mirror is scary enough.
Raising children, that can be real scary.
Being a parent of a child who drives is even worse sometimes.
Attending some deliveries can be a moment where I see a life or two and my family’s future flash before me.
Bringing a baby back from the bright light with family watching ? Oh yea, that is scary.
That pile of hair on the floor that I posted a couple of days ago. OMG, I’m still sweating over that one. I know, pictures have been requested. Soon, I promise.
So tell me what one thing do you do everyday that scares you?