My Own Wringer....

By about 10 pm last night I was thinking to myself, "This has been a pretty fabulous day" - work went by fairly quickly, (which is always a plus when you can hardly stand your job), Caleb had actually WANTED to go to the gym.... We have a goal to hit the gym at least 4 or 5 days a week, but Caleb isn't exactly a "gym rat". I usually have to bribe him with cookies or something to get him there, and then he realizes it's not so bad. He's now getting to the point that he likes it, which makes going a lot more fun. After we returned our sweat-drenched bodies home, Caleb surprised me by pulling out some salmon he'd already prepped with this fabulous rub he found - seriously, it's amazing, and this coming from someone who used to swear off all seafood. Add some lovely homemade potato wedges and carrots, and we had ourselves a wonderful healthy meal. I was getting ready for bed after a hot shower, when Caleb suggested we settle into bed and watch a movie we'd rented, "The Ringer". It's the one with Johnny Knoxville, where he pretends to be handicapped? He'd seen it, and thought it was hilarious, and I'd heard from a few others (Liz!) that it was as well, so I agreed - what a lovely way to end the day, cuddling up with Cabe to watch a funny movie. Little did I know that I would endure the most painful hour and a half of my life. I didn't say much during the movie, as I was desperately trying to fall asleep - but after the bloodshed was over, I had to know, why in the WORLD Caleb would put himself through something that horrendous not once, but TWICE?!?! I have a small list going of the worst movies ever made ("League of Extraordinary Gentleman" and "Mr. Deeds" anyone?!?!), and this one definitely lands near the top. I am sure the movie-making process is a lot more complicated than I can even imagine, but I often wonder how it is that something like this can get a stamp of approval from enough people that it actually makes it to the big screen. Not to mention all the money that some poor fool gave to make it possible. It was your typical B rated film - a horribly far-fetched plot, which moves along quickly without a whole lot of explanation, cheesy lines and predictability. I always wonder if the actors themselves know it's a "B" movie. I would hope that I would realize, but I guess one never knows. One lingering thought on my mind though, is whether this is supposed to be considered a step up, or step down for Johnny Knoxville....

Thankfully our trip to Blockbuster wasn't a total bust - we also rented "The Producers" which I enjoyed thoroughly. I laughed so hard I skipped my ab workout for the day.

If the world were perfect....

He would be mine.....

...and my bra would cease to squeak like an old woman's hips. It is REALLY time to part ways with the thing, as good as it has been to me. Victoria's Secret Sale anyone? I'm sure she's having one....

Mom's Day

Appropriately, I've been thinking a lot about my mother lately. For a lot of reasons, and yes, one of them being it was Mother's Day this last Sunday. I also had to give a talk in church about mothers, and in preparing for my talk I did a lot of researching and reading, and of course, thinking about how great my own mother is. I was thinking about how ironic it is that we don't fully appreciate our mothers until we get married and move out. Of course you love them, and are grateful for all the things they do for you on a daily basis, but you don't realize the incredible sacrifices they must have made for you, most likely without you even knowing. When I was little, I took for granted that dinner was always on the table, and my clothes magically reappeared in my closet, clean once again. I figured my mom had it easy - what'd she do all day while I was busy with IMPORTANT stuff, like school? I'd leave in the morning, dishes in the sink, scattered paper, toys, books lying around, and come home to a clean house, with my mom calmly preparing dinner. I probably figured she sat around most of the day enjoying the sun and reading magazines. Hopefully she DID do that, but I know that most of the time she was busy keeping the house from falling apart. When I got married and we moved up here, I couldn't find a job for several months. You'd think, and I definitely thought at FIRST, that I would have hours of time to relax, paint my toenails and get a tan. I quickly realized however, that keeping a house running smoothly took a lot a work! That no matter how well you cleaned it, it was always going to get dirty again, and no matter how well you kept up with the laundry, in a few short hours there'd be more. Perhaps I'm a little OCD, but I remember actually being UPSET when I'd look in the dirty clothes basket and find a sock or two - are you kidding me??!? I just spent 3 hours doing laundry!!!! And vacuum lines - haven't kicked that habit yet. I am OBSESSED about vacuum lines. If the world were perfect, no one would walk on the carpet for at LEAST 24 hours after it's been cleaned because dang it, I spent at least 10 minutes vacuuming and there's nothing to show for it if the dog tries to make his way to his water bowl from the corner I've put him in (the dog drinks more than humanly, or I guess I should say canine-ly possible). He knows I like vacuum lines, and he LOVES to mess them up - or so it seems. Anyway, I digress...mothers...right. I guess my point is, that I now realize why my mother would get upset when, after a full day of cleaning the house, her kids would come home from school and let their school bags fall to the floor, and create a pile of shoes and socks and papers and...even now I'm getting antsy. I used to wonder why she cared so much - and now I know. I wonder how things would be if I knew then what I know now. All I know is that I am grateful that she continued to put up with us, and that she's still sane after all these years. :) I don't know how she did it! She is a great mom, and a wonderful example. I have a lot to live up to. I see these new moms (Kjersti, that's you!) and soon-to-be's, and hope that they find comfort in the fact that in say, 20 years their children will finally understand a little about how much they did for them. :) I also think I've only scratched the surface - that the minute I hold my first child in my arms, I will again realize how much sacrifice was made for me, and again be overwhelmed with gratefulness. So Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there - it's the most important work you will ever do.
My mom's FAVORITE part of my wedding day - lacing up the dress....

Picture me rollin'......

All I have to say, is that THIS (see above) is MUCH BETTER than THIS (see below).

In more ways than one, but the biggest would have to be our bank account. Though we are insanely grateful for the series of events that led us to purchasing this $1 beast - because without it Caleb would have had to get up EARLY every morning to take me to work, or worse, I would have had to learn stick, and we would have been a one car family - we are even MORE grateful for this lovely new Corolla that we have. It is my favorite color - gun metal gray, and the gas mileage alone makes me want to shed tears of happiness. What?!?! You mean cars don't need to be filled up every other day?!?! You mean they actually TURN ON EVERY SINGLE TIME?! Our prayers have been answered, and a big thanks must go out to my Dad, who "accidentally" purchased it on Ebay. I love it! I don't even mind trekking out to Corvallis every single day of my life...(okay, I still do, but my mood has lifted since it's Friday). Now we just need to work on getting the hole in Caleb's dashboard filled in...preferably with some type of stereo.