Cents of Tumor

     Am I the only one that is guilty of being more lenient with my baby boy? As the youngest of my three, Adam just gets away with more. Now wait a minute, don't launch into a rant about spoiling him just yet. I am tough on all of my kids because I fear that they will turn out like me and need to have serious readjustment before becoming good people (I know, I am still adjusting!)
     The problem is that this kid has serious funny skills. I like that. Setti and Hugh are funny too, but Adam takes it to the next level. He can take a serious moment and just come out of left field with some comical look or gesture...and you can't stay mad at the kid! I have washed his mouth out with soap before for using a bad word (stupid) and had him crack me up when he said, "Can I have the other soap this time, I like how it smells on my dirty mouth." Really? Or when he yelled about hurting his bottom and said, "I can't reach my butt! I need it kissed!" Not too long ago I was sitting with him alone and he launched into a long story (in half baby talk- mumbling, excited looks, etc) so I went along with it and used a lot of Uhuh's, sure, and really?'s, and then he realized that I didn't know what he was talking about. Uh-oh. He shrugged, put his little hands out and said, "Jue know what I talking about Momma? Ju say yes? Okay, I going outside to fly." WHAT?
     Things like this is why my heart melts when I see him smile, when he comes into the room in the morning and without so much as a good morning, gets on my lap and cuddles, and when he holds my face in his little hands...oh the love for the youngest is so strong.
     Please believe me when I say that I do not single out my youngest. My daughter is one of the brightest kids that I know. She makes me shake my head at the insightful things that she says...and marvel at her quick wit. She has the best one liners and hilarious responses in the world! "Well how appropriate is that..." and "Well at least he has his mother to love him..." My favorite thing that she has ever said is, "I've got a great cents of tumor!" Someday she will have a blog that will make mine look lame in comparason. (Keep all sarcastic remarks to yourself please!)
     My son Hugh is the smartest kid, and he is shy just like his dad...and that laugh, it is contageous.  His sense of right and wrong is set...it is black and white, no gray in sight! Maybe he will become a lawyer...which is good because Adam might need one! It makes me very proud to see how much all three of them love eachother, at least to my face they do!
     Sure, I imagine that every mother feels that their children are the best at everything, the cutest, the smartest, the best. Period. I am no different. My kids are the one thing that I am the most proud of in my life. While I can count on two hands the things that I wish I hadn't done in my life (please, lets not elaborate), I can name three things that I would not change for the world. They in turn have made me a better person. I like who I am because of them.
     Sure they ruined The Body, but I forgive them. (The world couldn't handle The Body it anyhow.)

Retail Therapy

      In this economy we are all trying to save money, I am no exception to the rule. We look for those elusive deals, the great find that we can feel proud of so that we can feel justified for spending money...Retail Therapy we call it. Oh the adrenaline rush of saving a dollar, of beating The Man. The retail man.
     Not too long ago, our economy was such that it encouraged people to overspend, not just keep up with the Joneses, but to become the Joneses. Oh the days of the lines of credit a mile long, the more credit cards that you had in your wallet the more prestigious you appeared, and size of your car was a huge (pun intended) status symbol. Then reality smacked us right in the face. A whole generation that was used to spend now, pay later finds itself having to change completely how it operates.
     Having grown up poor I can remember really going through rough times (although I didn't realize that we were poor at the time) and even these adjustments are not life shattering. Do I want to give up going out to dinner anytime I don't feel like cooking? No. Do I want to give up designer makeup? NO NO NO NO! But will I if it means feeding my family? You betcha! (Sarah Palin accent and all) There is not much that I wouldn't give up to care for my family.
     I think that it is interesting that we can look back at the depression era and think, wow, those were some crazy times, they did anything that they had to do to survive...and yet, ourselves refuse to give up those frivolous material things that we call necessities. Have you ever considered what you could to save money in your day to day life? Will we be forced to (gasp) learn to budget, pay as we go and oh boy, eat homecooked leftovers!!! What will we do?? Oh my!
     Where we be in ten years? Will we be still clipping coupons and living frugally? I actually hope so, it would be a step in the right direction. There is one thing that I think would help us more than even clipping coupons and that would be to want what we don't have less and want what we have more. How is that for a foreign concept?
     Now, don't close the window just yet, it is possible...look around (unless you live in a shanty town) and say this out loud, "I am blessed. I have everything that I need, I need not for anything else." This week, when you run out to the store, before you reach for that extra something...put it back and send me the money that you saved. Hey, Susie Orman makes money from financial advice, why should I stay poor?

Rose colored glasses

Everyday I get dressed and complain about how it looks,
The pants are too tight,
The bras bursting at the hooks.
 Nothing feels just right...

Oh tell me Why, Oh Why, do I fuss so,
When my hair frizzes up
And how is it that my skin lost it's youthful glow?
Everyday I feel closer to teeth in a cup...

We move around in our day to day lives,
Worrying about the mundane and petty issues.
Cleaning dirty hands, and comforting cries.
Feeling a little like dry dirty tissues.

When will I learn that beauty,
Is in the eye of the beholders?
So I guess it is my duty,
To hold my back straight and square my shoulders.

When I ask my husband,
"Honey, does this make me look fat?"
As long as he wears that wedding band,
he responds, "No, you've never looked better than that."

Moral of the story, Train your honey to respond to dumb questions and you'll never have an ugly day again!!