Oh, and we lost Rosie this summer. It may still be a while before I can muster up the courage to dedicate a full post but she will get one. I'm just soooo very thankful for these pictures and that she was our dog. Dang, now I'm bawling.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Eye Candy
Hopefully, I'll figure out how to put pictures on the main page but here are a few of our latest session with Skylar Reeves from our 15 Minutes of Fame Party. (I've already booked one for March 2013 so let me know if you want in:)
Oh, and we lost Rosie this summer. It may still be a while before I can muster up the courage to dedicate a full post but she will get one. I'm just soooo very thankful for these pictures and that she was our dog. Dang, now I'm bawling.
Oh, and we lost Rosie this summer. It may still be a while before I can muster up the courage to dedicate a full post but she will get one. I'm just soooo very thankful for these pictures and that she was our dog. Dang, now I'm bawling.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Inspired to Blog Again Again
I hope this is not a terrible lapse in judgement but I want to open up a little more in my blog. I don't want to stir an already well-mixed pot but at this moment in time, I'm just kinda over being REALLY PC. If you are offended or feel like I've offended someone you may know, I ask you to please not share this blog. I hope to grow this blog towards strangers and other bloggers and away from small-town gossip. I am carefully considering how and where I share this post and I, kindly ask that you not share it with anyone that you think will be hurt I will never mention names of anyone directly and if there's any trouble you can call my mom and she'll tell you that I'm a really good story-teller and I'm probably totally making it up.
I cannot believe it's almost been two years since my last post. Depressing. But I'm really going to try to keep things fairly short and simple. The temptation to try to summarize the last two years is, hopefully, something I can overcome but it goes completely against my nature (or abilities?). So, I'll blog about family and kids because they're fairly consuming but I also hope to blog about things that inspire me, handy-ish work I'm doing in my spare time (read time I should be doing other things). And, on a fairly regular basis, I'm guessing, if I keep this up, of course, my posts will be my version of confession. I think like most working and/or busy mom's, my biggest struggle is balancing responsibilities & work with kids, friendships and "me" time without a constant pang of guilt tearing away at my stomach. What IS that? So maybe if I have a record of what I feel I should kind of feel guilty about, I'll, either A) be more conscious of those things and, miraculously, my time management skills will focus and sharpen and I'll strut around a la Bridget Jones after her first date with Daniel Cleaver, with a new-found "I've got this licked" attitude OR B) see that maybe it's not all that bad. Either way, it has to be positive, right? At least for me, and, you know, things are probably just going to be more about me.
So today, I confess that my time-wasting activities are at an all-time high. Concurrently, so are the piles of things at home and work that NEED to be FINISHED (or at least addressed). Here they are more specifically:
After reading this list, I have NO DOUBT, everyone is flabbergasted my three-year-old is like six hand fulls of stubborn (and funny). I know willpower MIGHT be the obvious solution to some of these problems. It would also come in handy to get healthier physically and financially. But I really like the route of praying for a bail-out. Okay that's a joke. But what's NOT a joke is that I really want there to be some kind of sweet, kind, fun, happy, toddler (with a pacifier) boot camp, because that, over all the other things, makes me the most anxious. Who in the world am I? Well, I guess I know who I'm not - and that's a 26 year-old with no concept of life with 3 kids at different stages with different challenges with a husband that works in this unforgiving Texas heat with little energy to do much more with a major fixer-upper of a house purchased when the husband wasn't swinging a hammer quite as much at work, all the while "co-parenting" (if you can call it that) with a mom that is truly, seriously, and explicitly more unbelievable than any character in any novel that I've ever read. TANGENT ALERT!!! (Skip this part if you don't like controversy or people that get off-topic.) Hmmm, I haven't read it but I hear the dude in 50 Shades of Grey is pretty messed-up. If he lacked the ability or chose not to be clear about his crazy or understand his crazy or own his crazy and just did the crazy stuff without any warning that its gonna get crazy and then tried to pass off the crazy as "normal", that's where he'd converge with this, for all practical purposes, permanent fixture in my life. (You know, we're all crazy, but owning your crazy is key. That's fact, not just my opinion. Seriously. You can ask.) Oh yeah, I'm also not someone with no concept of having a husband (remember how tired he is!) in a 3 year custody disagreement with that crazy lady that shopped around for a matching crazy-lady attorney that technically harassed my tired husband with stupid motion-filings and mumbo jumbo annoying enough for a mediator to lose focus of WHAT'S BEST FOR THE CHILDREN AS WRITTEN IN THE TEXAS FAMILY CODE and encourage my tired husband to compromise with said crazy -ladies when there's NO question, my husband never should have been put in the position to decide. *deep breath* Because the LAW should have protected him from that. And I know a judge likes a mediator that keeps it out of court, but I'm pretty sure I will FOREVER have a bad opinion of mediators. If you happen to be a mediator, I am willing to hear you out and look forward to discussing, when and where and why Texas Family Law staying out of court trumped the best interest of the children or the actual Code being upheld and, at what point, your personal conscience might kick in during a mediation and you will have the balls to say, this is absurd and a judge needs to hear it and Parent A is frivolous and hasn't fulfilled ONE obligation set forth in temporary orders or the orders from the previous TWO mediations and Parent B has ONLY followed through on everything he/she was "ordered" to do and worked his/her tail off to pick up the slack for Parent A. If you're a judge, we also need to talk about your districts mediation culture. It is a term. It is.
Dang, where was I? Anyway, I'm owning that I have a few issues. But I think some guilt comes from becoming more okay all the time with not getting everything done?! I have, what I believe to be, excellent relationships with all three kids. They are healthy. We do own a home, no matter how much fixing up it needs. I love this small town. We have an insane amount of support from our extended families. When I get through the paper monster I have staring me down at the bakery, I'm excited about new ideas and projects on the horizon. I still, somehow, believe that I will figure out how to squeeze in writing a novel at some point or, at least, an advice column of some sort (hello, I'm obviously a genius about everything and therefore qualified to advise the world. obviously). Pretty sure I'm about to discover more hours in a day and take my crafting and creating by storm and an awesome jewelry or accessories or handmade home-decor business just might magically appear, while being the perfect wife, mom, stepmom, employee, and booster club and/or PTA member and/or officer(s). Luckily, all of my unplanned wordiness - the exact opposite of the "short & sweet" I promised in the beginning - just helped me discover that I do know something that I am and it's actually what I've always been: an optimist. Maybe I'm not always moving in a forward direction but I never lose faith that I will.
I cannot believe it's almost been two years since my last post. Depressing. But I'm really going to try to keep things fairly short and simple. The temptation to try to summarize the last two years is, hopefully, something I can overcome but it goes completely against my nature (or abilities?). So, I'll blog about family and kids because they're fairly consuming but I also hope to blog about things that inspire me, handy-ish work I'm doing in my spare time (read time I should be doing other things). And, on a fairly regular basis, I'm guessing, if I keep this up, of course, my posts will be my version of confession. I think like most working and/or busy mom's, my biggest struggle is balancing responsibilities & work with kids, friendships and "me" time without a constant pang of guilt tearing away at my stomach. What IS that? So maybe if I have a record of what I feel I should kind of feel guilty about, I'll, either A) be more conscious of those things and, miraculously, my time management skills will focus and sharpen and I'll strut around a la Bridget Jones after her first date with Daniel Cleaver, with a new-found "I've got this licked" attitude OR B) see that maybe it's not all that bad. Either way, it has to be positive, right? At least for me, and, you know, things are probably just going to be more about me.
So today, I confess that my time-wasting activities are at an all-time high. Concurrently, so are the piles of things at home and work that NEED to be FINISHED (or at least addressed). Here they are more specifically:
- Recording my life in a kajillion different utilities or applications, such as,
- Facebook (jordan b adams penick)
- Twitter (@jordanb01)
- Instagram (@penick5)
- Pinterest (@jordanb01)
- Evernote
- OmniFocus
- SnapCal
- the regular ol' iPhone Calendar
- a paper Calendar (why not)
- FourSquare
- Firefox Bookmarks
- Safari Bookmarks
- WebClipper
- Blogger (barely, I know)- so many improvements but had to relearn today
- Craft-Gawker
- Dwelling-Gawker
- Instructables
- Online Shopping (not much buying! just PLANNING to buy!)
- Amazon - okay I give them my money on a fairly regular basis
- Fab.com
- HauteLook
- Groupon
- Living Social
- Gilt
- Craigslist
- eBay
- Zappos
- Fbg Online Garage Sale Group on Facebook
- Thrift stores - We have 4 in town but I really only go to 2. I'll just casually mention I love a good garage sale right here, but no need for its own bullet.
- Blogs & websites like Curbly, AT, Design*Sponge, and the ones I find along the way that I add to my feed
- Knitting - only 20 or so rows at a time of things that do not have a plan or known purpose
- Crochet - same story - Shocker!
- Variety & Logic Puzzle Books - not just by the bed or in the bathroom, they're in my purse, my car, etc. Shameful. Do I think I'm on vacation?
- iPhone & iPad apps & games - they get their own list
- Flow - I finally beat the game and deleted it from my phone! But its still on the iPad and tempts me here and there, especially, when there is a sink full of dishes.
- Song Pop Free - you HAVE to play to get the coins to buy new genres!
- Matching with Friends - this really could be a freebie, because I totally backed off on Scramble with Friends
- Smule Magic Piano - I discovered it through an ad from Song Pop Free. Typing it makes me want to drive home to get the iPad (so much easier on an iPad) and play. It's so relaxing but challenging and addicting. If I'm going to play, like SongPop, I HAVE to play often so I move up levels to get more coins to buy the cool songs. I can only play Fur Elise so many times but it will be worth it to play Landslide, right?
After reading this list, I have NO DOUBT, everyone is flabbergasted my three-year-old is like six hand fulls of stubborn (and funny). I know willpower MIGHT be the obvious solution to some of these problems. It would also come in handy to get healthier physically and financially. But I really like the route of praying for a bail-out. Okay that's a joke. But what's NOT a joke is that I really want there to be some kind of sweet, kind, fun, happy, toddler (with a pacifier) boot camp, because that, over all the other things, makes me the most anxious. Who in the world am I? Well, I guess I know who I'm not - and that's a 26 year-old with no concept of life with 3 kids at different stages with different challenges with a husband that works in this unforgiving Texas heat with little energy to do much more with a major fixer-upper of a house purchased when the husband wasn't swinging a hammer quite as much at work, all the while "co-parenting" (if you can call it that) with a mom that is truly, seriously, and explicitly more unbelievable than any character in any novel that I've ever read. TANGENT ALERT!!! (Skip this part if you don't like controversy or people that get off-topic.) Hmmm, I haven't read it but I hear the dude in 50 Shades of Grey is pretty messed-up. If he lacked the ability or chose not to be clear about his crazy or understand his crazy or own his crazy and just did the crazy stuff without any warning that its gonna get crazy and then tried to pass off the crazy as "normal", that's where he'd converge with this, for all practical purposes, permanent fixture in my life. (You know, we're all crazy, but owning your crazy is key. That's fact, not just my opinion. Seriously. You can ask.) Oh yeah, I'm also not someone with no concept of having a husband (remember how tired he is!) in a 3 year custody disagreement with that crazy lady that shopped around for a matching crazy-lady attorney that technically harassed my tired husband with stupid motion-filings and mumbo jumbo annoying enough for a mediator to lose focus of WHAT'S BEST FOR THE CHILDREN AS WRITTEN IN THE TEXAS FAMILY CODE and encourage my tired husband to compromise with said crazy -ladies when there's NO question, my husband never should have been put in the position to decide. *deep breath* Because the LAW should have protected him from that. And I know a judge likes a mediator that keeps it out of court, but I'm pretty sure I will FOREVER have a bad opinion of mediators. If you happen to be a mediator, I am willing to hear you out and look forward to discussing, when and where and why Texas Family Law staying out of court trumped the best interest of the children or the actual Code being upheld and, at what point, your personal conscience might kick in during a mediation and you will have the balls to say, this is absurd and a judge needs to hear it and Parent A is frivolous and hasn't fulfilled ONE obligation set forth in temporary orders or the orders from the previous TWO mediations and Parent B has ONLY followed through on everything he/she was "ordered" to do and worked his/her tail off to pick up the slack for Parent A. If you're a judge, we also need to talk about your districts mediation culture. It is a term. It is.
Monday, October 11, 2010
All By Himself
A few weekends ago, Derrek, Cash & I went to Brownwood to see Mimi & Grandpa Steve. Most people know that Cash is a very active, fun-loving, and often, mischievous kid. He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. He wants to hold the drink or the fork by himself. He climbs in & out of his car seat and the car by himself. He wants to "wok" everywhere by himself. If I try to hold his hand or guide the drink, a grunt, whine or full-on tantrum ensues. He will even stop what he's doing in a stand-off fashion if I hold my hand close enough to catch him if he falls. It seems we're standing-off quite alot these days since this particular mom of an overactive, adventurous toddler happens to be completely neurotic when it comes to any level of physical danger. I really really reeeeeaaaallly want him to wear a helmet if he's awake. Don't worry! I haven't actually put a helmet on him but I cannot say for sure that won't happen at some point yet. Anyway, my point of this post (a point would be nice, right?) is that he was kind of different this weekend without Blake & Ashley around. Most of you know they live with us all but four days out of the month so it makes sense that he's not quite himself without his two sidekicks (or servants that he constantly bosses around). He was clingy and needy and shy and timid. We went to the Brownwood Reunion and he wouldn't pet the animals in the petting zoo or jump in the jumpy castles or slide or play in the huge tubs full of corn (you read that right). We missed the kids too but it was nice to soak in some good Cash time in the middle of volleyball, football (cheer), & soccer season. The best example of quality time I can think of is when I shove fast food to him in the backseat as we run all over the place.
Rocking on Mimi's porch.
Back off, Bambi.
Hiding from the scary petting zoo animals.
Derrek really wanted him to love the pot-bellied pig (can barely see it's hind end).
Bambi freaked him out but he's handling the camel well?
Nope. out of the corn.
He acted like he didn't even know what to do.
I'll just take a new bike. (We had to pry him off of this thing kicking & screaming.)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Rocking on Mimi's porch.
Back off, Bambi.
Hiding from the scary petting zoo animals.
Derrek really wanted him to love the pot-bellied pig (can barely see it's hind end).
Bambi freaked him out but he's handling the camel well?
Nope. out of the corn.
He acted like he didn't even know what to do.
I'll just take a new bike. (We had to pry him off of this thing kicking & screaming.)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, September 18, 2010
In other news
I'm hoping this iPhone app will get me back on track with my blog. It's cool if you're not holding your breath. :) While you continue to inhale & exhale, enjoy some pictures from this summer.
And this app is officially awesome.
First day of 2nd grade & 8th grade. Totally cool if time wants to stop now.
Picking up some school supplies for the sibs... He's a multi-tasker.
First ride on a carousel at the Gillespie County Fair. Removing him from the horse without anyone getting hurt was especially a challenge. He grew attached very quickly.
Last day of our mini vacation to the beach... Stopped in SA to pick up some school clothes.
Same day. Target dressing room floor.
Still in the target dressing room. The person before us didn't clean out the dressing room.
Long night at the PBR
He can totally play super Mario brothers. Well HE thinks he can.
Just the boys (with cousin Rance).
Road trips to CO can get a little hairy.
Big pimpin in a knee brace & aviators. Totally the latest trend in baby wear. Swear.
Summer locks (took some bleach but its gone now).
He's very loving....sometimes doesn't know when he may have given to many kisses (if there is such a thing).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
And this app is officially awesome.
First day of 2nd grade & 8th grade. Totally cool if time wants to stop now.
Picking up some school supplies for the sibs... He's a multi-tasker.
First ride on a carousel at the Gillespie County Fair. Removing him from the horse without anyone getting hurt was especially a challenge. He grew attached very quickly.
Last day of our mini vacation to the beach... Stopped in SA to pick up some school clothes.
Same day. Target dressing room floor.
Still in the target dressing room. The person before us didn't clean out the dressing room.
Long night at the PBR
He can totally play super Mario brothers. Well HE thinks he can.
Just the boys (with cousin Rance).
Road trips to CO can get a little hairy.
Big pimpin in a knee brace & aviators. Totally the latest trend in baby wear. Swear.
Summer locks (took some bleach but its gone now).
He's very loving....sometimes doesn't know when he may have given to many kisses (if there is such a thing).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Anniversary Worth Blogging About
I'm about to miss the actual anniversary but today marks two years since Derrek & Chris's surgeries. Each surgery changed it's patient forever and for the better. Thankfully, they remain healthy & that day two years ago is even easy to forget sometimes in the daily hustle. Now, derrek works for Chris. It feels right that they see each other. Even though neither is quite comfortable expressing it on a regular basis, their mutual respect & support of each other is obvious.
I'm still so proud of you, Derrek! It was never a question, I know, but that doesnt make it any less brave.
I'm still so proud of you, Derrek! It was never a question, I know, but that doesnt make it any less brave.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mother's Day Part 1
So, Mother's Day is a sensitive day in our household. The first mother's day after Derrek & I got married, I was a little forgotten. Actually, you could go as far to say totally forgotten. I didn't expect anything big. I didn't want a gift or flowers. I just wanted one of the 3 people that made me feel like a mother (Derrek, Blake & Ashley) to maybe say Happy Mother's Day to me. Many of my close friends and family know that since the second Derrek & I decided to be in a relationship, my devotion to Blake & Ashley was even consuming at times. They filled my heart like I'd never known. They let me in and I jumped in with both feet. Loving them and feeding them and dressing them and taking them to school and helping with homework and doctors and disciplining them (even when I didn't really know what I was doing) and, well, you get the point. I'd spent the previous Mother's Days helping them prepare special things for their mom and I know to them, their mother, OF COURSE, is what mother's day is about. But I thought, now that I was OFFICIALLY their step-mom, I'd get a little recognition. I'm not here to bash any of them either! Step families are tricky business. I am part of a step-legacy at this point. I get the drill. In fact, until Blake & Ashley left that day with their mom, I don't think even I realized how high I'd gotten my hopes that they would be as excited as me on that day that I had made the "mom club" even by marriage! I'm thinking my mom even made a call to my husband that day. When I got home from work, there was a card and flowers and hugs and apologies. He appreciated my devastation in a way - not because I was sad but just because it kind of startles you sometimes when others, even relatives, love your children so much. I really understand that now that I have Cash. So, we've had some growing pains. This year, Blake & Ashley are with their mom until this evening and Cash has been with my mom all weekend. (I'm about to walk out the door to meet her halfway to pick him up). Ashley texted this morning "Hey George". Then she called an hour or two later because she needed me to do something for her. Still, a little phrase was missing from our conversation. Derrek (always on his Mother's Day game now) & his brother, Dac cooked an awesome breakfast for everyone this morning and I told Derrek she'd forgotten. He disappeared for a bit and then a text from her magically appeared! "Happy Mother's Day!!!" I was a little bummed this morning but the more I think about it, the better I feel. If I had to write down the ways and times I've taken my mother for granted or probably forgotten to say "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Mother's Day" or "Happy Anniversary" or, even "how are you?" or "how are you feeling?" Or "what can I do for you?" I'd have a book that weighed more than I could carry. I have no doubt in my mind that Blake & Ashley love me as much as I love them. Mother's Day isn't needed to reaffirm that fact. In fact, I'm going with the philosophy that these small oversights actually mean that they love me as deeply as I love my own mother. I'm kidding myself to think I'm as unselfish and as giving and as unconditionally loving and as devoted and as self-sacrificing as she has been to me and my sister but I know she's been a good coach and there's an excellent probability that some of her has rubbed off on me. One day, they'll remember all by themselves to say Happy Mother's Day but by being who they are I'm reminded daily that I'm where I'm supposed to be in life. This is the day I get to relish in that.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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