EH-PAH-NAY-SHUR!

We have a special riding-in-the-van CD. The kids don't want to listen to anything else.

Track 3 is their favorite. How Finley interpreted 'Elevation' as 'Ehpahnayshur' is beyond me.

As soon as the music starts, Joe and Fin start bobbing their heads, and soon they are ooo-ooing at the top of their lungs with Bono.

I'm wondering if these kids will ever get tired of it. I hope so. It's been in there for over 6 months.

Random Thought Post

My sister-in-law sent a link to one of those political 'what-are-you' quizzes , and come to find out, my views didn't line up with any of the candidates. In fact, the most my ideas matched with any one candidate was 43%. How could I vote for some one I can't agree with even half the time? In spite of my lack of enthusiasm, we went as a family yesterday and voted. At least I could go vote against the senators and reps that I thought should no longer be in office.

Today, I decided I'm not doing so badly in the parenting category. I met a lady who was frazzled because her 2 and 4 year old children wanted hot chocolate, and she felt obliged to cater to their whim. Children are not meant to run your lives, people. It is okay to say 'no.'

I am also amused by people who participate in CSA's, but won't let their child eat something that has fallen into regular dirt or grass. 'Ooo. That's icky!' I guess they don't realize that a little dirt in one's diet can help strengthen the immune system.

I really like dictionary.com. I use it frequently.

This morning, Chris was up at 3:30 am to go to Knoxville. As he was leaving at 3:45, I was up nursing Z. He told me that he was going to reset the alarm and I could shut it off in the morning. I could not, for the life of me, understand why he would reset his alarm (which normally goes off at 5:30) and force me to get up then. I got really frustrated. 'Why do you have to reset the alarm?'
'You don't get it, do you?' he asked, getting frustrated with me.
'No, I don't.'
It took a minute before it dawned on me that he was talking about the burglary alarm.

The "Crisis"

Listening to Dave Ramsey yesterday, a listener wrote in saying that he had been stressed about the economy until he quit listening to the news. He then found that he became relaxed and at peace.

One of Ramsey's favorite lines goes something like: '100% of the homes that are foreclosed on had mortgages.' That got me thinking again about how nice it would be to not have a mortgage hanging over our heads. Now that I'm not pregnant, I almost convinced myself yesterday that I wouldn't mind living in a tent or a trailer for a year while we remodeled or built [as long as we had a killer piece of property].

Anyway, today, in celebration of the ability to choose what helps shape my mental state, I am going to keep the radio off, turn on the automatic playlist on my computer that plays all my favorite songs, and be happy.

A Lucid Moment

In my railing against narrow thinking (lately, the literal seven days of creation train of thought), I stumbled upon a new idea that led me to question another traditional belief that death did not exist before the 'fall' of Adam and Eve.

I batted the idea around with my brother, who, in the midst of the conversation, warned that I might be bordering upon heresy. I don't remember exactly what it was that prompted the warning, but at the time it disturbed me a bit. Was I about to get myself thrown straight to hell for my thoughts? Anyway, now that I understand the definition of heresy, I don't mind playing the heretic once in a while. (Jesus was one, wasn't he?) I do greatly value those around me who are willing to tell me that I might be a little off, and challenge me to think things through a little better. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on my ramblings.

Anyway, in the bath this morning [the great think tank of the the ages], I had a moment of lucidity. It went something like this:

If there was no birth, death, and decay cycle in Eden, what was the point of fruit? Seeds are meant to go into the ground to bring forth new life because the old will die out. How in the world would Adam and Eve understand the concept of 'perishing' if they ate the forbidden fruit if there was no example for them to see? Perhaps death did exist to show them what would happen in the event that they chose to follow their own idea of what was right.

I was also seeing another parallel that makes sense to me. This may seem crazy to everyone else reading, but... oh well. There are three levels of life. First there is plant life: life in body only. Next comes the animal kingdom with a whole new level of life... (dare I say a soul?) And when God created man, he added a spirit to the body and soul, completing the image of God.

And with that, it was time to get out of the shower and attend to my crying baby...

Therapy

The dirtying of one's fingers is a highly underrated experience.

I have felt a little not sane lately.

It might be the lack of sleep. Z's sleeping patterns are still rather irregular. And I've been up later these past few nights.

It might be the lack of thought-provoking, adult conversation. Finley is my most constant companion, but she isn't the greatest person to talk to. She tends to be very vague and talks in circles. Here is an example of our dinner conversation last night:

F- You do what you can do, Daddy does what Daddy can do, see, and Re does what Re can do, and Joe does what Joe can do, see, and we all do what we can do!

Me- What is it that I can do?

F- You do what you do!

Mind numbing, literally.

It might be the fact that I forget to eat because I am so busy taking care of everyone else.

It's probably a combination of these and other things. Regardless, I've been feeling a little off balance.

Today, Z fell asleep, and the kids (in order to preserve the last remaining remnant of my sanity) were plopped down in front of the TV. I ran out to check the mailbox (which was empty) and looked at my weedy flower bed.

I have been dreading the degrassification of this particular bed, thinking that the roots would have a grip of iron in the caked dirt and that I would have to resort to digging up the entire thing. I didn't want to go that route, as I have quite a few bulbs planted there, my favorites being a giant allium and some white, multi-flowering daffodils.

I bent down and yanked on a tuft of grass. It pulled out easier than I expected, the soil beneath light and fluffy from the mulch and grass clippings that have been decaying there over the seasons. My spirits rose, and I pulled out a few more handfuls of grass. Then I spotted some daffoldil bulbs that had surfaced, and I realized I couldn't bear to leave this bed like it was any longer. I ran inside to check on the kids, then headed to the garage to get my 'claw' and trowel.

A half an hour later, all the grass is gone and the bulbs are replanted. The soil lies naked, waiting to receive some plants, some cover. I am filled with a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. I feel a little more sane.