And I Thought I Was High Maintenance...

(...says the woman who won't drink milk from a plastic cup, and thinks that water is better with ice in a glass glass)

This morning Payton saw that I had packed a bagel with cream cheese for Tasha to take to school for lunch, so he wanted one for breakfast.  Not only did he want to eat it, but it had to be wrapped up in aluminum foil and placed in a bag in the refrigerator, just like his sister's had been.  In the process of preparing his food, I cut his bagel in half, just like I did Tasha's, only he did NOT want it cut.  He had a complete meltdown- he fell to the kitchen floor crying, "no,no,no, I no want it cut!  Noooo...." He sat there, head slumped into his hands, lamenting over the cut bagel, while I wrapped it in foil, placed it in the cloth Zabar's bag I bought the last time I was in NY, and placed it carefully in the fridge.  I cleaned up, reaching over him to place the knife in the sink, and sat down to eat my own breakfast.  A good 15-20 minutes later, he retrieved his bag and happily ate his breakfast, realizing it was exactly like Tasha's and tasted the same cut as it would have uncut.

Of course, he needed a drink to wash the bagel down.  The drink was "in the blue cup, not the wed one," with ice, and poured from "that jug" (opening the fridge and pointing), not the pitcher of water just next to the jug.

The Shack: Respite to the Weary Human

There are times when I think that living in the desert of Arizona has it's drawbacks.  The obvious virtual non stop heat for 4-6 months of summer is only one factor, albeit a HUGE factor, that leads me to the dismal conclusion that I live in a wasteland.  A h.o.t. wasteland.  That is not, however, why I sat down to write this evening.  I try to not write about the heat because it is just depressing.

It's storming tonight.  A really good, solid storm.  Often times it just threatens to storm:  dark skies, muggy air, crazy wind, lots of dust, lightning and even thunder come, but no rain.  I've been through so many rainless storms that I sometimes forget the power that rain has.  There is a cleansing power to rain as it washes away the day with all of it's trials and sadness.  The confrontations, disappointments, and unexpected or expected challenges can all just zoom down the gutters and off to some unknown water plant or sewer system to be forgotten.  God bless the rain.  I mean it.

I've been sitting by this window debating if I should just go stand out in the rain and let it drench me from head to toe.  The cleansing power of rain could do me some good.

The storm also reminds me of a quote from The Shack...

“There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine.  Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance, demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.  And unlike illness, it is largely a corporate rather than individual experience.  One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging in out within her purview.  All those affected this way are united by a mutual excuse, and the heart is suddenly and unexpectedly a little giddy.  There will be no apologies needed for not showing up to some commitment or other.  Everyone understands and shares in this singular justification, and the sudden alleviation of the pressure to produce makes the heart merry.”  (pg 15)

I've never experienced this kind of "corporate" experience since we don't really have the kind of weather that shuts things down here, but I do get a little giddy at times.

When You Thought Life Couldn't Get Any Better

Your son pooped on the potty.

You took a picture of the IKEA plates that you put in the dishwasher in rainbow order.

Later, while playing Mastermind, you put the pegs in rainbow order to take another picture.

Cheetos.  The fat puffy kind.

You realize that you are grateful that a phase of life has ended...you will no longer buy diapers for your children!

You read a book in a day to find out what evil things teenage girls will do and say to each other to be popular and are grateful that you were never one of those girls.

School starts and everyone is starting something new, except you.

You think giving key word ideas to someone elses pictures might be a fun thing to do even though you have plenty of organizing of your own pictures to do.

You contemplate getting a facebook account just so you can have a pinterest account to store all the craft ideas you won't do.

You surf pinterest knowing you don't have anywhere to store the great ideas you find!

4 vehicles parked somewhere on your property:  only one runs without problems, it's not your truck, and it doesn't hold your whole family.


You finally upcycle a skirt into what you think is a pretty cute outfit and not a single person comments on it.  Not your daughters, not your husband, not even the ladies that knew you started it 6 months ago.  Maybe it wasn't so cute.

You learned the word "upcycle" on pinterest and think you're pretty cool for not only using it in a sentence, but for actually doing it with two items of clothing you were going to throw out.

Finally...you've gotten a little of your edge back (enough so that you didn't write the really depressing stuff), and put up this random list of things that actually did happen and aren't very exciting.