White Clothes

Why is it that I have an aversion to folding the "white" load of laundry? We don't even have the dreaded whitey-tightey chonies in our household, but this group of laundry just drives me crazy! It is not uncommon for them to sit in the laundry basket all week long...just waiting for that silly laundry fairy to show up!

Pay It Forward

Scenerio: Schlotzsky's Drive Thru (does anyone in Tucson still go to Schlotzsky's?)...2 Hot, Hungry, Tired Children...Order of 2 cheese pizzas, a soda, and 2 chocolate chip cookies...$7.65...Lady in front of me with a really nice BMW (so shiny and so pretty and much, much cleaner than my Explorer and probably with really, really, really cold air that feels like heaven)...I pull up to the drive-thru window to pay for our purchase with the last $8 in my wallet...was told that said lady in said BMW had so generously paid for our lunch...Purposely....not on accident...she didn't just drive off, forgetting her change...such a little thing, yet so big. I can honestly say that I have NEVER done that for anyone. I don't even know if the thought has ever crossed my mind.

This is the first time I can recall a complete stranger actually doing something nice for me...I tend to notice the slights and the wrongs - the lady cutting in front of me in line, the car that is following me way too closely, the kids at the park who throw sand on the slide just as my little boy is going down, the man who haphazardly discards his shopping cart next to my car and allows it to roll into my fender. I forgot that random acts of kindness do exist...even in Tucson!

So...thank you, nice lady in the Beamer who bought us lunch for no reason whatsoever! You made our day and reminded me that we all get so caught up in our own circle of life that we forget to see those around us...

The Laundry Fairy

I wish she would visit my house this week...

That Guy

I have "That Guy" in my Human Development class...oh, you know the one! He is a fifty-something, ex-military, pompous, the-downfall-of-society-began-when-women-were-given-the right-to-vote, bore who feels the need to bring the rest of us down. Seriously...why is he taking the class? He moans and gripes that he "he wouldn't be taking the class if he didn't have to" - but does he have to? He made the choice to go to school, he made the choice to pursue a nursing degree which he knew required ECE 107. No one is holding him down in his seat, no one is forcing him to be there...so why ruin it for the rest of us? "That Guy..."

Dry Heat

I don't like the phrase "...but at least it's a dry heat..." in reference to Arizona summers. It is applicable for most of the year, but right around the end of June/beginning of July is when the monsoon season arrives, thus the dramatic increase in humidity....it is most definitely not a dry heat. It is sticky, muggy, and HOT!

I do not like being hot. I don't like the heat (dry or wet). Not at all. My plants die, my evaporative cooling stinks (both literally and figuratively) , and wearing my hair down is just not an option. Why do I still live here?

Blue Fireworks

How do you explain to a 4-year old that the pyrotechnists were not trying to personally insult him by using mostly red, green, and yellow fireworks last night and only 2 blue ones...it was a very sore spot throughout the display, on the ride home, before getting into bed, and first thing this morning - the kid can hold a grudge!

The Gold Crown

I have just added Hallmark to my blacklist. This takes the cake in the "Most Unfriendy Staff When It Comes to Understanding the Urgent Nature of a 4-Year Old Who Really Needs to use the Restroom" category.

This is pretty amazing given the fact that I was the brave (or maybe just absurd) mother who chose to take an almost 3-year old and a 4 1/2-year old into HALLMARK...seriously - glass figurines in all shapes and sizes, porcelain dolls, knick-knacks galore all just begging little, sticky, fumbling fingers to rescue them from their safe perch on the glass shelves. Honestly, how much glass does one store really need - if I didn't know better, I could have sworn the walls were made of crystal!

In fact, I am marveling at my children's ability to follow my explicit instructions: "Do not touch anything without asking my permission." They followed it to the "t" - asking about every 10 seconds if they could touch this or that - but at least I was monitoring the potentiality for disaster! Princess B even managed to not play one of her favorite games - pulling greeting cards out in a random fashion so that she can watch Mama try to play an adult version of Memory.

So...I made my selections: some tissue paper, a bow, and a card for a Baby Shower, and proceeded to the front of the store when I notice the little man lagging behind, knees together, holding his pants - telltale signs of urgency! I quickly ask the clerk if we could please use their restroom - she gives me and my children the once over (of course this was the day we had gone to Costco and they just had to have the penne w/ meatballs sample all over their shirts); she looks down her 19-year old, has-obviously-never encountered-a-toddler-who-HAS-to-pee-nose, and exclaims "we don't have public restrooms." I understand, but there is certainly one here, can't we just use it this one time? "No."

Really? (I don't know if I was more bewildered or angry...it is just a toilet, right?)...I literally tossed the items on the counter, pulled both children by the hand, and walked 150 yards in 110 degree heat to Albertson's (they may not be the cleanest, but at least they accomodate small bladders).

Silly me for thinking that Hallmark would be understanding of such a predicament in motherhood - their sappy, sentimental, and affectionate waves of greeting cards sure put on a good ruse! So, anyone expecting a greeting card from me will have to settle for the red bullseye selections instead of the gold crown ones!

PS - "red bullseye" = Target, my saving grace (toys, toilet paper, snacks, dog food, stationery, plants AND a Starbucks...really, who can compete?)