This Makes Daniel Happy...

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we purchased a mower that would require an All-Terrain Vehicle {ATV or 4-wheeler} to pull it. When deciding between a riding mower and a pull-behind, it wasn't too hard to lean towards the pull-behind. The price for a good John Deere verses a ATV/mower combination was similar and the ATV would give us more versatility {i.e. we can play with it too}. 

While deliberating, I pointed out that we would eventually have to buy a second ATV {you know, so we can both ride} and if we do that it will require buying a bigger trailer to haul two ATVs around... but for now, we are excited to have a new utilitarian vehicle.

The ATV also helps us to fit in a bit better. All of our neighbors own ATVs and during all of the snow earlier this year we felt a bit left out whenever we would see them pulling sleds and having a good ol' time. Next winter, that will be us :)

Since bringing our ATV home this past weekend, we had not had a chance to play with it at all. I know this was driving Daniel crazy, but he was sick most of the week AND it has been raining pretty heavily for the past couple of days.

Last night when Daniel got home from work, he was determined that we should take it for a spin. So we did. At first we rode together. Then Daniel took it out by himself – I think he just wanted to ride through the big puddles fast {and he knew I didn't want to get wet} and he wanted to open it up on the street.

Then I took it out by myself. It is a manual that you have to shift with your foot {just like a motorcycle} but there is no clutch to worry about. My biggest problem is forgetting to shift! You can't ride very fast in first ;)

Anyways, it is going to be fun to have around. Can't wait to go out to some wildlife management areas and play on the trails. Oh yeah – there is that part about mowing the yard too...

Confessions of a non-parent...

I am thirty years old and I could probably count the number of times that I have babysat {in my lifetime} on both hands {maybe one hand}... Now that I have a precious little niece, most of those times have been in the last 20 months.

That said, I am a smart and competent adult and I believe that little Izzy has a fun time with me and that she is safe in my care.

However, there are times when my lack of knowledge/experience shines through.

There was the time at Christmas when I put her down for a nap without removing her shoes first. She didn't seem bothered by sleeping in her sneakers, though she also didn't nap as long as usual.

Then there was the time I was making cookies and my sister told me to let Izzy lick the beater. I handed Izzy a beater that was covered in lots of gooey chocolate goodness. My sister looked at me and laughed. She said that she would have cleaned most of the batter off first. Again, Izzy didn't seemed bothered. In fact she looked like she pretty much enjoyed it.

Most recently, I was on babysitting duty and I decided to take Izzy to Chik-fil-a for lunch. I thought it would be prudent to take a diaper and wipes with me {just in case}. I opened up the travel wipes container and it was empty. I glanced around and saw "wipes" on the counter in a larger container. I pulled out a couple of said "wipes" and put them in the travel container and we hit the road. Thankfully I didn't have to change Izzy at CFA. Later that day, my sister opened the wipes container and asked if I had used the "wipes" that were in it. She sounded a bit distressed. I told how I had taken the wipes with me but did not have to use them. It turns out that the wipes I had taken where Lysol Wipes for cleaning NOT Huggies Wipes for babies. My bad.

It was not that I didn't recognize that using a cleaning supply on a baby wasn't the best option, it was more that I was in a hurry and at the time, wipes looked like wipes. Both brands happened to be green. I should have taken a closer look.

Thankfully Izzy is no worse for wear.

*Pictures courtesy of my sister.

52 Books: Book 13

When traveling home from Arkansas, I read Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Even if I hadn't been in a car for so long, I think I would have read this book in one setting.

It is a memoir of Denver, a modern-day plantation slave from Louisiana, and Ron, an international art dealer from Texas. The paths of these two men eventually cross at a homeless shelter in Texas where they form an unlikely friendship at the nudging of Ron's wife, Debbie. Coming from vastly different worlds, these two men find a connection through a shared faith in God.

Excerpts from the book:

Sometimes it's drinkin or druggin that lands a man on the streets. And if he ain't drinkin or druggin already, most fellas like me start in once we get there. It ain't to have fun. It's to have less misery. To try and forget that no matter how many "partners in crime" we might hook up with on the street, we is still alone.

I didn't scare everybody, though. I slept on the doorway of that United Way over on Commerce Street for a whole lotta years. And every mornin for all that time, a lady who worked there brought me a sandwich. I never knowed her name and she never knowed mine. I wish I could thank her. Funny, though. That United Way buildin was right next to a church, and for all them years, nobody at that church ever looked my way.

With the museums, the restaurants, and the malls, I was showing Denver a different way to live, a side of life in which people took time to appreciate fine things, where they talked about ideas... But he remained unconvinced that his way of life was no worse than mine, only different, pointing out in the process certain inconsistencies: Why, he wondered, did rich people call it sushi while poor people called it bait?

"Ever man should have the courage to stand up and face the enemy... 'cause ever person that looks like a enemy on the outside ain't necessarily on the inside."

I used to spend a lotta time worryin that I was different from other people, even from other homeless folks. Then, after I met Miss Debbie and Mr. Ron, I worried that I was so different from them that we wadn't ever gon' have no kind of future. But I found out everybody's different - the same kind of different as me. We're all just regular folks walkin dow the road God done set in front of us.

Menu Recap

Last week I was visiting family, so no pictures of meals. I made Daniel a Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes (in a crock pot) and a pan of Poppyseed Chicken for him to eat for the week... I think he was getting bored with his options by the end of the week. On the other hand, I had the luxury of family cooking for me. All of the meals were scrumptious.

Monday Dinner: I was at my sister's in Nashville, TN and my brother-in-law made Hamburger Steak with melted Swiss Cheese and Sauteed Mushrooms and a Salad and Baked Potato on the side.

Tuesday Dinner: My sister and I traveled to our parent's house in Searcy, AR and our mom made Taco Soup.

Wednesday Dinner: My mom made Pot Roast with Carrots and Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (same as what I had made for Daniel).

Thursday Dinner: My mom {and niece} made homemade pizza.

We made Banana Splits for dessert {mine was bananas, vanilla ice cream, corn flakes, coconut and chocolate syrup}.

Friday Dinner: My mom made Poppyseed Chicken, Rice, a Salad and Blackberry Cobbler (I promise that my mom and I did not coordinate our meal plans!).

Saturday Dinner: Back to Nashville where my brother-in-law made Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and a Salad. 

Sunday Dinner: Back home in Alabama. We had leftover Poppyseed Chicken.

Girl's Trip

I just spent a week with my sister, my 20-month-old niece and my parents in my hometown of Searcy, Arkansas. 

It was a nice respite and I decided to take a break from blogging.

It was a lovely week. Angela and I shared a room, a true throw back to growing up. 

It was nice being around a toddler and experiencing the world through her eyes: big belly laughs, learning new words and generally appreciating everything. 

As always, it was great to see our parents: there was great food, discussions about books we had recently read and of course, scrabble. 

We also were blessed to see our Aunt and Grandma.

We visited old haunts: including the Harding campus and a trip to Bobby's (now Maddie's) for breakfast. 

I ran into a high school friend {at the drive-in at the bank of all places}. 

My dad and I discussed gardening and he provided me with some starter seeds for the garden I am planning on planting soon.

Izzy had to be a part of everything: including making her own pizza...

and helping in the garden.

I managed to get in my first 6-mile run {I figured skipping a week of running while training for my first half-marathon would be a bad idea}.

 I also managed to read two books during the week: The Happiness Project and Same Kind of Different As Me.

The only negative to the trip was that Izzy tripped and fell on Friday, breaking off part of her two front teeth on a concrete floor. She is a real trooper and wasn't phased by the experience... her mommy on the other hand was pretty upset.

I am home now. We are bumming it today because Daniel managed to come down with Bronchitis while I was gone and is still feeling pretty crummy.

52 Books: Book 12

Last week I had a conversation with my little brother about my inane fear of tornadoes. I have had to deal with tornado warnings for a good portion of my life and yet I still get scared of them. My brother wanted to know if I saw the glass as half empty or half full. I told him that it depends. I like to think that I am an optimist {or that I at least try to be optimistic}, but obviously my fear of dying in a tornado is a pessimistic view of life.

Following that conversation, I started reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The Happiness Project is Gretchen's year-long quest to discover if by studying happiness and making deliberate choices could lead to a happier life. She feels that she is a basically happy person {I can relate} but believes that there may be a way to increase her happiness.

She divides her year up by months and focuses on smaller resolutions each month to increase her happiness. These resolutions include: decluttering her life, choosing not to get angry over small things, having more fun with her children, fighting less with her husband, exercising regularly, deliberately spending money, choosing to do hobbies she enjoys, studying religion, etc.

It was a very interesting book, but I found myself thinking that a lot of her deliberate resolutions were things that I already choose to do on a daily basis. It was a good reminder that we get to choose whether we are happy or not and that sometimes just making the effort will make us feel happy.

To that note, I think I better start choosing not to be afraid of tornadoes...

Excerpts from the book:

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking." ... {Nietzsche's} observation is backed up by science; exercise-induced brain chemicals help people to think clearly.

Oscar Wilde observed, "One is not always happy when one is good; but one is always good when one is happy."

"There is no love; there are only proofs of love." {Pierre Reverdy}. Whatever love I might feel in my heart, others will see only in my actions.

"The chief happiness of a man is to be what he is." {Erasmus}

"Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are, which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which it is our duty to outgrow and the necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass with impunity." {W.H. Auden}

Happiness doesn't always make you feel happy. When I thought about why I was sometimes reluctant to push myself, I realized that it was because I was afraid of failure – but in order to have more success, I needed to be willing to accept more failure.

The days are long, but the years are short.

To eke out the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory.

"Of all the things that wisdom provides for living one's life in happiness, the greatest by far is the possession of friendship." {Epicurus}

When money or health is a problem, you think of little else; when it's not a problem, you don't think much about it. 

"The things that go wrong often make the best memories." {Gretchen Rubin's mother – I heartily agree with this statement}

...I {do} often view people who make critical remarks as more perceptive and discriminating. At the same time, though, it's hard to find pleasure in the company of someone who finds nothing pleasing.

be yourself.

{via Pink Wallpaper}