It's all so clear now!

Today at mops this lady came and talked about the personalities. I will admit that my first thought was "Again? I already know all about that stuff." She presented it in a completely new and cool way. I learned a lot. I learned more about me and why I have so many issues, I learned about Devin and his issues, I learned about Addison and her issues, and I learned about Ainsley (maybe) and her future issues?! Just kidding. Have you ever heard the phrases Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic? Google some of those words and try to figure out what yours is. I'm sanguine. Is this surprising? No. It's not surprising at all. I just wish I had known this stuff earlier on. Sanguines LOVE to have FUN! We are open books, will tell you anything, tell on ourselves, stretch the truth, will choose fun over responsibility, and desire approval from others above anything else. We're constantly running late, love to shop, and love to give, give, give. Sanguines struggle with organization more than any other type.

Why did I major in Elementary Education? Could somebody please TELL ME??!!!! Now it makes sense why during my student teaching I just wanted to get in there and teach those kids and why I would get horrible stomach aches just thinking about planning lessons. Why I would get migraines because I was so worried I'd fail. It explains why subbing was ten times easier for me. I could show up, have a great time with the kids, carry out someone else's plans and then go home.

It explains why, if I do something stupid, I put it up on facebook and then don't understand why everyone else doesn't do the same thing. It explains why (if I don't learn to control myself) I might be that 80 year old woman who is telling her great grandchildren or the lady on the bus all about her constipation. Hee hee hee.

It explains why I'm typing this blog instead of making a dent in the laundry. The speaker did say that we shouldn't use our type as an excuse for bad behavior....

Anyway now that I know so much more about who I am I feel so free to be me: someone who loves relationships and having a great time, being silly, bringing joy. God made me that way. I just need to work on some of that other stuff. Like laundry and housework (even if it is just not very fun).

I think Addison is melancholy. I'm already seeing some perfectionist tendencies and she's VERY sensitive. She's also really into drawing and art and music. Oh and God forbid you change her daily routine. I can't wait to see how this develops in her.

Devin is phlegmatic. He is Mr. even keeled. Doesn't get too excited about something, but doesn't get too upset about something either. Phlegmatics tend to be procrastinators and a bit on the lazy side unless they are super excited about something. I'm laughing as I type this because it is just so dead on. It explains why I'm jumping around the living room saying "Devviiiin let's do something FUN! Come on! Let's play a game!" and he just looks at me with tired eyes and wants to watch Monk or go to bed or read his book. Phlegmatics desire peace. They like to sit and watch.

As for Ainsley I think she's turning out to be more like me, a little entertainer. It's probably too soon to tell, but it sure is fun seeing her personality erupt lately. 9 months is a FUN age!

What are you? What are your strengths? Weaknesses?

Update

This was a great weekend! Yesterday I took Addison to gymnastics and she went right in without throwing any fits at all. Last week was an entirely different story...

Then I went over to Kohl's and scored some awesome deals on some things for Ainsley and a pair of jeans for Addison.

After that I decided to peel my lazy butt from the computer chair and go for a run. It had been a week and I was definitely not in a running mood, but I knew I'd feel great if I just went for it. I accidentally ran 3 miles total. So incredibly difficult. By the end I was literally yelling at myself. Thankfully no one was around to hear me. I thought I had only gone two until I came home and told Devin the trail I ran on. He said it was 3. Well that explains why it was so hard. As many of you know I am NOT an athletic person by any means. I never participated in any sports growing up and am not talented in this area. It feels so good to have started this seemingly impossible goal and see progress. It's also scary too. It is scary for me to do things I know I won't be instantly good at, or to try things when I could possibly fail. Yikes. That is why I know I need to keep trying to do this.

ANYWAY

Today Devin and I worked in the nursery with the 1 year old cuties. As much as I love holding itty bitty babies, I am in love with this age group. They're so loveable and cuddly and hilarious too. Then Kelly brought Elise up to church and joined us. It was fun to have them there with us.

Later on in the afternoon I went to a shower for Merah. She's pregnant with their third baby--a boy! She announced that they are considering moving back to Cayman. I was trying very had to be supportive, but inside I was thinking "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Please don't take my Merah, my first ever mom friend in Kansas City." Ouch. That would be a tough loss. First Rach moved away and I'm hearing rumors of other friends leaving too. Nope. Not thinking about it right now! Denial...la la la la la.... I think the reason my wedding was such an amazing time was because I had all of my friends and family in one spot, and we all had so much fun together.

Anyway this is going to be a great week. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Plus my new tradition is to go to CVS at midnight the night before to get the black friday deals. Will you be joining me via cell phone this year Leigh Ayn? My parents and Devin were discussing what we were going to eat that day and I was naming off the usuals:

Turkey (duh)...check.
Stuffing...check.
Mashed Potatoes...check.
Corn Casserole... Mom: "Well I was thinking about not making that this year" which was received by looks of horror from Devin and me and a "WHAT?!" from my dad. "We have to have corn casserole!" he said. My mom argued that it was too similar to stuffing and mashed potatoes. That just wasn't a good enough reason. I replied "I could make it."
"Have you ever made it before?" asks my dad.
"No, but if Eric can make it I can make it (no offense Eric!)."
"Well make it for Devin first and if he says it's ok then you can make it." There are some things you play around with, but corn casserole stays on the menu and that's that.

Oh and I broke out the Christmas music early this year. It started with Josh Groban's Little Drummer Boy and took a steep curve downhill with Amy Grant's Christmas album from 1983 that I found at the library. Oh so many childhood memories from that one. Once I broke out Mariah Carey's Christmas cd there was no turning back. So far Addison's favorite song is Sleigh Ride. It reminds me of dancing around my dorm room with Amanda to the Billy Gilman and Charlotte Church version. Yeah this one:


Happy Monday!

Dave Ramsey knows how to get under your skin

and I think that's why he takes calls like this:

Yesterday two people called in to the show separately telling Dave that their elderly parents had nothing, but were receiving calls from collectors from a pile of credit card debt. One lady was in a medicare nursing home at the end of her life and was still plagued with credit card collectors. Dave asked if she had any assets and her daughter said "nothing. she has nothing." Another man called saying his 74 year old father-in-law was living with them, receiving $683 a month in social security and had $30,000 in credit card debt. This is so SAD! You've raised children, worked hard, and then at the end of it all have nothing to show for it. I guess that's not such a big deal because having stuff isn't what life is all about. The thing that breaks my heart is the debt. I know how it feels to be trapped under a bunch of debt. It feels hopeless, so to have all that debt on top of the assets that you DON'T have is just so, so sad.

Anyway that was a bit of a downer so here are a couple of cute things that Addison has been saying lately:

"Mom is that that Christmas man?" (after seeing a picture of Santa hanging up in CVS)

"Huck's going to drive Roxy to the mall?!" (after mis-hearing me say "Huck is driving Roxy up the wall")

"Hey that's the man that screams all the time!" (about Bruno on Dancing With the Stars)

:)

How about a little balance?

Are you sick and tired of hearing about food this and food that? I am. It's become a new obsession for a lot of people, and a way for us moms to try and outdo each other. Enough with the scare tactics. Let's all take a deep breath and enjoy a Snickers. But just one. Not five. I was browsing around on the internet, trying to help poor Heather figure out how to get Goldfish cracker stains out of her daughter's shirt (I was curious too) and I stumbled on yet another message board about healthy eating. I don't know who this person is, but I thought what she had to say was pretty interesting. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

"Now, let us travel deep in the land of my personal opinion: we all need to lighten up on the food issues. I was raised in a tofu, all-natural, nothing-out-of-a-box, whole-wheat, chip-and-soda free environment deepinthehearta Berkeley. I'd go to school and watch the other kids eating their ding-dongs, or their sandwiches made with Skippy (I, of course, had the all natural peanut butter from the Co-Op; you know, the kind that rips the bread when you spread it and leaves an oily stain on the lunch bag), while I ate my stale sandwich and all-natural fig bar. Oh, I could have cookies (made with honey), and candy (one piece, after hallowe'en), and my family was not morally opposed to dessert, but for a kid, it was a pretty miserable life.

I'm 41, and I've now discovered there were a lot of us 60's babies out there whose parents were doin' the all-natural thing in an attempt to promote healthy eating habits. I've also since discovered that it's we 60's babies that have the biggest food issues.

At 12, I used my allowance to buy Capn Crunch that I would store in my closet in my room (I was not alone in this behavior, I later discovered). At 16, I would go to those geeky evening parties, and spend the entire night at the snack table --alond with all the other kids who were deprived such treats -- devouring the jello blox, filling our pockets with pretzels and chips, and scooping that salty onion dip into our mouths. By the way, the kids who had the Ding Dongs in their lunch boxes? They were dancing and talking.

In college, I developed an eating disorder. There were a lot of reasons for that, I'm sure, but when I finally got help in a group setting, I discovered a lot of people, whose food choices had been strictly proscribed, were right there with me.

Now, I meet fellow ''granola-babies'' all the time and we laugh at what our parents tried to do and how badly it backfired. Sometimes it's not so funny.

I cringe when I go to the park and hear parents talking about the dietary constraints they have laid on their kids. I don't want my child to eat cheesy fries, either, and a can of chili poured into a bag of corn chips is not my idea of a protein-rich diet. Accordingly, I have no problem telling my kid NO if he wants marshmallow creme for dinner (I'm not afraid of a little crying); he'll eat what I serve. If his nanny was serving him orange soda instead of milk, I'd give her exactly one chance to stop feeding that crap to him. At the same time, I would try to temper my desire to expose my son to a healthy lifestyle with a little realism, and allow him to experiment. It wouldn't change my behavior at home, where his diet is fiber, vitamin and protein rich, but I not going to focus too much attention on it. -- Tsan"

NOTE:

This post is not passively aggressively directed at any of you, I promise. At my mops group a few weeks ago we had a speaker come in to teach us all about healthy eating for our children. Instead of giving us helpful hints or fun ways of getting your stubborn, redheaded child to eat vegetables she literally said things like "if you give your child Skippy peanut butter you might as well give them sugary lard." We all left feeling like the worst mothers in the world. Anyway, so when I stumbled upon that post on a message board it resonated with me. Hope that helps to clarify things a bit!

Helpful Hint

When you go to a late night showing of This Is It with your aunt, it might be a good idea to double check the theater (to make positively sure you're the only ones in the room) before attempting the Thriller dance, doing twirls and leaps in front of the screen on your way back from a bathroom break, and singing at the top of your lungs. Yes, it may appear to be empty, but there might be one old guy in the waaaaay back who comes walking down the steps after the movie's over (after you've made a complete fool out of yourself). If you don't get my helpful hint in time, at least you had a great time doing it.

heh heh.

You should have seen the "oh crap" look on our faces when he came walking down.