Friday Five - Skillz

Friday Five: I got Skillz (and some non-skillz). Yes I know I'm making up words - it's one of my many skillz!

For Friday Five, here are three of my "mad skillz" (aka things I can do that you might not know about) followed by two of my non-skillz (aka things I can not do)!

My Skillz:

1. Shoot a gun. Although not quite as good as Michael Paul, I am a decent shot. I got really into shooting in Montana while visiting family. I was determined to shoot a prairie dog while there but alas I never got one. I am itching to go back because somewhere on that huge ranch, there is a rodent with my name on it! My husband works the night shift and I am alone at night a few times each week -but believe me - I have no hesitations about pulling out the shotgun and shooting an intruder.

2. Carpentry/Plumbing. No I am by no means as good as a professional (or my husband for that matter) but I have found I can do a lot of house projects by myself if I just set my mind to do them. I installed all the shoe molding in our house which included cutting complex angles thanks to our archways and bay window. I also have fixed two minor plumbing problems in the past few years. And I can pretty much fix anything with enough spackling! :o) When it comes to renovating a room - I am also really good at the demolishing part of the project.

3. Flip. Thanks to my many years as a competitive gymnast in my childhood, I can still do quite a few gymnastics tricks. I haven't tried flipping since Keziah was born and I'm a little nervous to try it now - I think I might finally be too old. The last back flip I did was on a trampoline last summer while I was 3 months pregnant. But I have not lost my flexibility; I can put both feet behind my head and I can still do a backbend and pull myself to standing.

My Non-Skillz:

1. Roll my tongue. I absolutely can NOT roll my tongue. I have been trying my entire life and I have never done it - not even once by accident. I have had several people try to teach me including my 6th grade spanish teacher who after an entire semester of trying to teach me insisted I take french as my foreign language. When I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua, all the children made fun of me because I could say no spanish words with an r in them. I know it is a small thing but it is very annoying not being able to do something that everybody else can do.

2. Memorize. I can not memorize. OK, technically I can - given enough time and lots and lots of effort. But it certainly does not come easy. If something is not logical or I can't come up with some clever way to remember it, I find it very difficult to learn. This is probably why I hated history in school. It was just a lot of names, dates, battles, places etc. to memorize. Even though math is very much my strength, I did not have my times tables completely memorized until the 6th grade. It wasn't for lack of practice. I did my flash cards regularly. It just took that long for them to finally stick.

3 and 2 make 5 - Friday Five and I am done. Thus I conclude my week of posting all about me.

Thursday Three ...A question

Question: Suppose the government hires you to be the only person working in a missile silo deep deep underground all alone for a month (you're the guy who has to be there to push the big red button should war break out). You have to stay there by yourself for a month with no contact to the outside world. All your basic necessities such as food, clothing, and even a Gideon's Bible will be supplied for you. You get to pick three and only three personal items to bring with you. What would you bring? (Note: there is electricity in the silo but no tv/cell phone/ internet reception)

Answer: I would bring an ipod with all my favorite music on it, a large book of fun math and logic problems, and a large box of peanut m&m's. I think if I could work math problems while listening to music and munching on m&m's, I would be quite content alone for a month.

What three things would you bring?

Wednesday One

One Hymn:

I love hymns. I love more modern praise music too. But I really love the lyrics of the old hymns. Those people knew how to write good lyrics. My current church sings very few hymns and the ones we do sing are completely jazzed out to a more modern, black-gospel style. Sometimes I miss the hymns being sung the old 'First Baptist' way - the way I grew up. Recently I have gotten back into all my old hymns because singing is the only thing that puts Keziah to sleep in under 15 minutes. Every night I sing several old hymns to her at bedtime. I have been truly amazed at how many I remember by heart.

It seems like in every other genre of music my "favorite song" changes every few months. But I have had the same favorite hymn since I was a little girl. It always rings true to me no matter what stage of life I am in. I sing this one to Keziah every single day. So for One Wednesday, I will share the lyrics of my one favorite hymn:

Be Thou My Vision

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,

naught be all else to me, save that thou art;

Thou my best thought by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word,

I ever with thee and thou with me Lord;

Thou my great Father, I thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;

Be thou my dignity, thou my delight;

Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower:

Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:

Thou mine inheritance now and always;

Thou and thou only first in my heart;

High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,

May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright Heaven's sun!;

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Tuesday Two - 2 Pet Peeves

Continuing with my week of letting you know more about me, today I am sharing two of my pet peeves (along with a little ranting!)

1. Being interrupted. No not in conversation. I do that myself all the time (so my huby claims). But being interrupted while I am in the middle of something. If I am interrupted mid-task, the chances of me returning to the task are almost zero. I lose my motivation. If I set out to scrapbook for the day, or organize the closet, or whatever, I will make sure I have eaten and peed before I start. I won’t even stop for bathroom breaks. I won’t answer my phone. And it drives me mad for darling husband to say, “can you stop for a second and do such and such.” I won’t start a task if I know I will be interrupted. This is why I have to know what my day looks like in advance. If we are expecting company I have to know the exact time they will arrive. If we are going out, I want to know when we will leave so I can plan my activities accordingly. I will absolutely not start to clean the house or begin a project if there is the slightest chance I will have to stop before it is done. Having a baby has certainly made this more challenging. But it doesn’t bother me at all to not be able to begin a project, only to be interrupted. So basically being a mom just means I am not doing near as many projects as I use to.

2. Feminism. Seriously. Everything that comes with it. No, ladies, you can’t have it all and do it all and not sacrifice something. Men and women really are different. There really are a lot of things a man can do better than you! And news flash - there are many things you can do better than a man! Stop trying to be both. Men aren’t out there trying to be both - they’re not stupid - they know that would just make life harder on themselves. Why make life harder on yourself. Embrace your femininity. Let your man take charge every now and then. Give him back the pants and relax. You don’t have to do it all. If you ask me, feminism has enslaved more women than it has liberated making them feel pressured to have careers and take on leadership roles all the while feeling guilty for not having time to devote to their husbands and children. I also believe the feminist movement is directly responsible for the fact that many men have forgotten how to be gentlemen -opening doors, paying for things, walking on the street side of the sidewalk, and standing up when a woman enters the room. These things were done because men use to see women as highly valued, precious, and worthy of extra attention and care. But a few women somehow mistook this for being seen as weak and wanted no part of it. And now the rest of us are paying for it. Furthermore, concerning that whole ‘barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen’ stereotype - what’s wrong with it? Sounds like a dream life to me!

Monday Many: More about Me

In continuation with my week of telling you all about me, today will be more random facts.

-It annoys me that there is no number that starts with an M for today’s alliteration, thus my using the word many.

-I love having my head scratched and people playing with my hair even if it makes it frizzy.

-I hate white baseboards and trim in houses; I hope my next house has stained wood trim - it hides the dirt.

-I hate cleaning floors, but I love doing laundry and organizing things.

-I think Super Mario Bros 3 was the best video game ever and I recently got to play it again because my parents dug out my old Nintendo from the closet.

-I truly believe I became my most authentic self the day I met my husband. Before I met him, I never felt completely comfortable around anyone because I knew they didn’t really get me so I always tried to hide certain aspects of myself. When I met Michael Paul, all my masks came off and all my walls came down.

-I love sarcasm. My mom is very sarcastic and it always made me laugh. My best friend in high school (Hey, Valerie!) was the queen of sarcasm and I thought she was hilarious. I can be pretty sarcastic myself but I’ve learned throughout the years that not everyone appreciates sarcasm and you have to be careful or you will offend someone.

-I was so ready to be a mom that I didn’t care about any of the things I would have to sacrifice. The absolute only thing that I was a little sad about giving up was sleeping in. And then God turns around and blesses my sox off not only by giving me a baby but a baby who likes to sleep in ‘til 10 most mornings.

-I really struggle with fear and worry and have lost a lot of sleep over the years playing out dreadful scenarios in my head. This has gotten worse since Keziah was born.

-I’ve struggled with insomnia off and on throughout my life. A few years ago, I got really into “Poker After Dark,” a TV show that comes on at 2 in the morning. I made Michael Paul teach me how to play Poker and for a few months we played a lot of Poker just the two of us. We would wager things like back massages and foot rubs.

-Sometimes when I can’t sleep I try to come up with a hard math problem and then solve it - this relaxes me and distracts my mind. If I can’t come up with a good problem, I count in my head until I fall asleep. I like to wake up the next morning and see what the last number I remember saying in my head was. My record is 1,387 counting traditionally. Sometimes I count by 3’s or 7’s but I don’t remember my record for those.

-I really struggled with depression in high school and still do from time to time.

-I am very introverted and somewhat socially awkward. I have had no less than five people come up to me in the last ten years to tell me that they “hated me when they first met me because they mistook my lack of social grace for snobbery, but that they really liked me now that they got to know me.” I learned to laugh at this statement and I have actually tried really hard to work on this trait of mine.

-Being introverted, I often decline invitations to hang out with people and ignore phone calls because I can only handle so much human contact or I go crazy. I love solitude. I love blogging because it is low stress, human contact on my terms. It irks me when extroverted people take it personally when I decline an invitation. It is never personal, it is just me trying not to go crazy.

-In my ideal life, I would live in an old farmhouse on a few acres nestled between mountains, grow all my own food, have chickens and goats, and have 10 children, mostly girls but a few boys, whom I would homeschool while my husband worked with his hands building things all day.

I guess “many” turned out to mean 15.

Tomorrow: Tuesday Two!

Sunday Six: 6 of my Favorites

1. color - green

2. drink - coffee (black)

3. place - tie between Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness and Glacier National Park

4. sport - football (Go Tennessee Titans!)

5. children’s book: Bridge to Terebethia

6. flower: gerber daisy

Saturday Seven: All About Me

I’ve been attracting new followers who don’t know me personally so I thought I’d spend the week blogging all about myself. And you family and friends who do know me might still learn something about me! Of course I had to come up with a creative (i.e. nerdy) way to share this info so I will be sharing a few facts each day, the number of which will be chosen based on alliteration with the day. We’ll start with Saturday Seven - 7 random facts about me!

1. I have an identical twin sister but most people can tell us apart just fine.

2. Every pet I have ever had growing up lived years beyond its life expectancy despite the fact that we never took our pets to the vet to get yearly shots and only fed them dry kibble. They were a chihuahua named Paco (16.5 years). A calico cat named Tiger (15+ years - we’re not sure because we didn’t get her as a kitten). Two hamsters Allie and Blondie (3.5 years). And now we have our tabby cat, Pumpkin.

3. I had a teaching certificate in math grades 7-12 but I let it expire because no one could ever pay me enough to teach in a public school again. It was the worst 2 years of my life.

4. I was very much an overachiever in school and always the teacher’s pet. I always took the AP and honors classes and graduated valedictorian. But deep deep down I always wished I was the girl who got the solos in the show choir and the lead role in the school play.

5. I have naturally curly hair and I hated it very much growing up and complained about it all the time despite the fact that I always got compliments on my hair from strangers. At 16 I made the conscious decision to start loving my hair and I have ever since.

6. I love rainbows and waterfalls and always feel like God is talking to me when I see one.

7. I have always felt like I was born way too late. I am constantly drawn to things that remind me of a simpler time. I hate technology (even though I am currently using it to tell you this - yes I see the irony). I love antiques. I hate my car. I’d rather walk locally and wish I could take trains to travel. I hate cell phones (mine broke today). I refuse to get a smart phone. And I refuse to change my font color from white just so all you people with iphones can read my blog on your phone. I am not on facebook and don’t intend to be.

Stay tuned for Sunday Six - More About Me!

Some Very Random Thoughts for World Breastfeeding Week

I really really wanted to post something for World Breastfeeding Week. It's this week in case you didn't know. I've been brainstorming since last week and haven't come up with anything that makes a complete post. So in an effort to not let the week slip by me, I decided to just start typing and get over the fact that this will be very very random. So here goes ... My Very Random Thoughts about Breastfeeding:

I hate the term 'breastfeeding'. It sounds like all I am doing is feeding my baby food from my breast. I am convinced that breastfeeding is only maybe 30% a nutrition supplying system. The other 70% involves developing the immune system, comfort, emotional support, bonding, psychological health, and even spiritual health. I like the term 'nursing' much better because it seems to convey something deeper.

There are a lot of myths out there that drive me crazy. One is this: Everyone told me that if she was latched correctly it wouldn't hurt. WHATEVER. Nursing hurt like H-E-double-hockeysticks for a good month in the beginning. Everyone assured me she was latched properly but I was always worried I was doing it wrong. Now I have met several women who had the same experience I did. Here's an interesting tidbit: the fairer your skin, the more it will hurt in the beginning. I am really glad I stuck it out. Now it is quite enjoyable. But I wish that whole 'it shouldn't hurt' phrase was never uttered. Maybe more women wouldn't give up so quickly.

I really believe in children weaning themselves. I have no plans of weaning Keziah just because she is __ months old. There is a ton of research on the many many benefits of extended nursing. Despite the fact that many Americans find nursing toddlers disturbing, there is no research indicating that it is in any way psychologically or otherwise harmful.

I have loved each and every milestone Keziah has passed, but my favorite has to be when she figured out how to find the breast and latch herself for night feedings. Because we co-sleep, this has enabled me to sleep through many a feeding. What more could a sleep deprived mama ask for?

Baby K has lots of different types of feedings. There's the "I'm starving, all business, very efficient" feeding, the "whimper whimper suck suck" comfort feeding, the "I'm bored with my toys so let's play with booby now" feeding, and the nighttime "I just want to know you're still here" security feeding (that one's very short - just a few sucks and back to sleep). But my all time favorite has to be, "Oh look, new people, I want to show off my mommy, so I'll act like I really want to nurse and then as soon as mama gets relaxed, I'll pull off real fast and turn my head and smile at the strangers so they can bask in the glory of my mommy's magnificent booby!"

Happy Breastfeeding!

PS For some hilarious breastfeeding comics, check out one of my favorite blogs, Mama-Is

Foster Falls

It's been a while since I've blogged. Yes, I'm still here! We have been crazy busy working on our house to get it ready to sell. It is now officially on the market so everyone pray it sells fast. We can't wait to get to Asheville. Michael Paul has started his new job and so far he likes it. He has been home for a week and we are enjoying a lot of quality family time before he has to go back to work. Yesterday we went to Foster Falls to celebrate the anniversary of our engagement. We got engaged at this waterfall 6 years ago and haven't been back to it since. It was really fun going on a little hike and playing with Keziah there. We had the whole place to ourselves because no one else is crazy enough to be out in this heat. When we got engaged there was a ton of water coming down, but this time there was just a trickle. Even still Keziah was wide eyed and mesmerized by it. She seems to really enjoy nature and we are so glad. Here are some pictures:

Thankfully, Michael Paul volunteered to carry Keziah on the hike. She's almost 18 pounds now!

Snack Time!

Splash Splash

I love playing in the dirt!

I found a stick!