My Excuse

I know, just when I create this awesome plan to make my blogging life more interesting, it all just dies. In all fairness though, it isn't all my fault. The power cord for the laptop died and I don't have the opportunity to get on a computer very frequently. I bought a new one on ebay . . . from Hong Kong. Yeah, didn't know that until afterwards.

It's going to be a little while before I'm back.

Whoops.

14 Month Portraits

Isn't my little boy handsome? :)

Don't print these please. If you want some prints, go to http://thesmilestation.com. Name: Davis Bethany. Access Code: LTTT0890106456TAR

Bethany's Wild Side

I was a pretty well-behaved child in grade school. There was only one time I remember actually getting in trouble for something.

It was around 2nd grade. Anyone remember those hair ties that had the plastic balls on two ends? I had discovered that those could bounce off tile floor if you dropped them just right. This fascinated me and I forgot to be well-behaved and bounced and bounced that little hair thingy off the floor like there was no tomorrow. Teacher didn't like that.

Later that day I decided I was sick of doing math and Teacher caught me reading Charlotte's Web instead of doing my math problems. Not indicative of my future at all! (that was supposed to be sarcastic).

Anyways, I lost my recess that day for my rebellion. I guess I shaped up, because I never lost a recess again. But I still don't regret choosing a book over math.

Demerit Chit

"Yesterday I had a good scare. We had out first major official inspection and as RPOC, my job was to stand watch until the Inspector (A Chief) came in. I then call the division to attention and salute/greet the inspector. After that I take my place in front of the division and give them orders as the inspector directs. Well, I aced my inspection (locker on spot and in proper uniform). I got a 5.0 out of 5.0 on both and the average was 3.3. BUT I messed up the timing on one part of the greeting so the inspector gave me a demerit chit. Now I've never paid much attention to the various lectures on demerit chits because I didn't plan on breaking any rules. So I asked my RDC what the consequences were of receiving a demerit chit. He told me that if I got another I could lose my program. Immediately my mind reviewed the parts of my contract that state that failure to perform can nullify my guarantees. If two demerit chits were to be considered failure to perform then all it would take to lose my guarantees would be for me to not notice an officer while walking somewhere and not salute or even see a chief or a PO and not greet. So I started to worry (obviously) and began considering resigning so that I could blend in and avoid dangerous situations. The problem with that is that there is nobody remotely qualified to fill in for me. A couple days ago I was talking with the RDCs about who could take over as yeoman (our current yeoman is going to be fired for misconduct) and there wasn't really anybody that could handle that, let alone replace me as RCPO. I mentioned a few names to them and they ripped each of them apart. It was a big eye opener for me because I realized more than before how little there was to hold the division together in my absence.

So with all of that in mind, I thought about resigning, worried about what would happen to the division, but knowing that I had to do what was best for my family.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that the RDCs probably had a lot of influence on the consequences, if not complete control (considering cues like the fact that RDCs had threatened to fire me on at least three occasions, but I was pretty sure it was just mind games they were playing, but I had to know that I had their support. I knew they were pleased with me performance from little cues like the fact that they let me laugh at their jokes and one time there was a graded event where the RDCs played a role in what would be graded and I had a special physical for the nuclear field that wasn't supposed to end until after the event started. So the night before the event, I trained my AROC who is second in command for drill (and the guy who calls cadence when marching). Well, the next morning I went to my physical and the division, especially AROC was very nervous. After I was at the clinic for about 20 minutes, one of my RDC showed up and started talking to the guy at the front desk. I heard the guy at the desk tell Chief that there was no way I'd make it back on time. Chief then basically told him to try anyways. Next thing I know I'm at the front of every line and the doctor is ready to see me. I made it back with almost an hour to spare. When I got back, one of my RDCs told me how happy the other RDC was to see me. I looked over and he was grinning like an idiot, kind of strange to see that from one's RDC.

Anyways, with all this in mind, I went to the RDCs office in the evening when all three were present, determined to find out where things stood. I approached them and greeted them and asked about the demerit chit. The RDC I had asked earlier laughed and told the others that he had told me if I got another I'd lose the program. They tried to sidestep my question and just threatened my with violence inflicted by the cutlass I carry as RCPO. (But I think they're realizing that those kinds of threats don't phase me at all and that I don' take them seriously.) So I decided to force their hand by saying "Petty Officer, if I were to resign from my position as RCPS, would you have any names in mind for somebody to replace me?" There was a brief awkward silence during which time it became clear that they had no clue who would and really didn't want me to quit. They tried to make fun of me some more but my demeanor forced them to cave and tell me that demerit chits would have no impact on anything in my contract. After that, I asked for permission to carry on and they resumed harassing me and told me to quit being a pussy. They can make fun of me all they want, but now I know that I have "job security" and that they'll help me accomplish everything I need to."

March 4, 2009

Duh

Remember for Future:

Don't schedule shots and portraits on the same day.

Synopsis:
*2 hours at doctor
*Huge bloody scratch down his leg where the needle popped out after Jeffy kicked harder than the nurse thought was possible.
*Jeffy's first lollipop, which almost made the shots worth it.
*Off-the-charts stats: 27 lbs and 32 inches. Yes, he's a chunk.

All of which helped to cause:
*Massive sobbing attack at portrait studio.

In about half the pictures Jeffy has visible tears streaming down his cheeks. Some of them actually looked really cute.

I guess it could have been worse.

Sunshine Just Makes Everything Better

I'm thankful for such a sweet little boy who makes me smile so often during the day. And I'm grateful that he loves me too.

I'm thankful for a husband who works hard outside the home so I don't have to.

I'm thankful for a family who loves me and tries so hard to take care of me when I'm too tired to do it myself.

I'm thankful for sunshine.

Learned: Trust My Instincts

Jeffy's at the age where he's getting into everything, as many people on facebook have read about. I asked for advice and got plenty. And none of it really seemed to fit. I tried lots of different things and this is what I learned.

I learned that what will work for other people's children may not necessarily work for mine. And what works for one of my kids probably isn't going to work for another. This is one of the things you hear about and know about but doesn't really become concrete until you have kids of your own.

I tried advice from people I admire and trust--it didn't work. I tried other advice--it didn't work either. I had plenty more advice to try, but didn't feel especially confident in them, so I didn't. I gave up on what other people were telling me and focused on what I thought would work with this particular little man. And I started making progress and started to see some improvement. Yay!

I still will ask for advice when I don't know what to do, but I'm not going to arbitrarily do it. If I think it might work for my kid, I will. But if it doesn't sound like a good idea, I won't. I have enough trust in myself as a parent to trust that what my instincts say to do are probably a good idea.

Lesson learned: Trust my own instincts over the advice of others.

Stairs: Jeffy's New Best Friend

Jeffy's newest favorite activity is throwing things down the stairs. He always loved to throw any and all balls he could find and watch them bounce down, but lately he's been branching out.

Things we picked up from the bottom of the stairs on Monday:
5 pairs of shoes
12 tupperware containers
3 tupperware lids
6 balls of varying sizes
5 miscellaneous small toys
1 water bottle
2 sippy cups
4 pairs of his pants
3 shirts
And that was all in a matter of about 2 hours.

Anything he could fit through, under, or over the gate, he threw. And he would get really frustrated if something didn't fit. Finally we got tired of going up and down the stairs to find anything we needed, so we tried to cover the gate and the railings. We put blankets up over the side railings, and put a big piece of plywood covered in material up over the gate. So far so good. We were even able to take down the wood, and just use a blanket and he hasn't thrown anything over in a while. Silly kid.

On another note, he's babbling more and more and some of it is actually starting to make sense. I've been working with him on "hi da da" to say to Jeff when we see him. Yesterday Jeff got to call us, and Jeffy said it to him perfectly! I was so excited, and Jeff was too. He's getting very good a mimicking sounds he hears. At church on Sunday, a little girl pointed to a picture on the wall and said "Jesus" and Jeffy said "Jesus" right back to her. It was clear as a bell. Most of the things he says aren't real words, but he is talking all the time. It's really cute.

He's also discovered he loves cat food. Previously it was kept in a container by the back door, but Jeffy figured out how to open it and grabbed a big handful and started eating it. His face lit up and he chowed down. Every time I took it away from him and put it back, he would go right for it again and he even figured how to get the whole lid off, even when I taped it with packing tape. He was determined to get into that yummy stuff. He really liked it. I finally gave up and moved the whole container onto the kitchen table until we found a new home for it. I haven't seen him that excited over a food since we introduced bananas! I had to pry the last few pieces out of his little clenched fists!

He's getting some shots this Friday. It's been a while since his last shots, so I'm not sure how it will go. But right now he's healthy and mostly happy and that's all I could really wish for.

Pandora and the Box

When I was 11, my fifth grade put on a play, "Pandora," the ancient Greek story of how the seven deadly sins and hope came into the world. And wouldn't you know it--I was cast in the part of Pandora! That's the first time I ever remember being sooo excited for something.

I remember bits and pieces from that show.

The main song, simply called "Pandora" went like this:

"Pandora, Pandora, the gifted one.
The fairest, the brightest beneath the sun.
Pandora, Pandora, while you're at play,
Tomorrow (either "not far away" or "another day")"

During this song, I wore a bright pink toga and did an interpretive dance with long strands of thick yarn. I was kind of chunky and I bet I was quite the sight. But I loved it. I got to dance and twirl around while everyone else sang about how perfect I was.

During one practice, Leslie, a trouble-makin' kind of girl came up from backstage and when the teacher told her to go back, she reported that Aaron McMillan had punched Andrew in the face. That ended that rehearsal super quick.

I quickly developed a crush on my "husband," Prometheus, played by the super cute Kenny. He was a little chunky too and I thought we made such a cute couple! We did our little kid flirting and had fun tossing the fake fruit at each other. He wore a bright blue toga.

In this play, Pandora is given a gift from the gods--a box. She has no idea what's in it and is forbidden to open it. She holds out for a while, but inevitably gives in to temptation and opens the box. Alas, furies come pouring out of the box, followed by the seven deadly sins. For those of you who don't know what a fury is, picture this: about 15 fifth graders dressed in dark colors who look like bats running around, howling. That's a fury. And the seven deadly sins are avarice, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath. I remember a little of their theme song too:

"Gluttony fills you up so full, there's no room left for you!
And lust is just a must for you when there's nothing else to do."

We didn't understand that then, but now I think it's pretty funny! Thankfully, after all these evils have been let into the world, Hope emerges from the box as well and sings a pretty song, too.

The best part about everything coming out of the box was how tricky we were. We had a giant wooden box that you could probably fit two or three kids in, but that wasn't going to be enough to fit a whole bunch of furies, seven sins, and hope! So, we pulled out the big tricks. The box didn't have a back and was placed right up against the backdrop, which had a hole in it. So all the things coming out of the box waited behind the curtain, and then snuck through the hole and out through the box. Being the mighty fifth graders we were, all the younger kids thought we were amazing, and asked us repeatedly how everybody fit in that box! That was the great secret of our grade.

I was so proud of myself for that performance and so disappointed that my family didn't get a video camera until the summer after. Looking back, that probably wasn't such a bad thing. It would have been the perfect blackmail video.

There was one little incident that nicely ties up this memory. The following summer my family was at the public pool, and I was swimming around, enjoying myself, when one of the kids from my grade started teasing me about being Pandora. For once in my life, I didn't let his teasing hurt me at all, and I was even able to whip out a witty "Is that the best you can do?" right before I turned around and swam oh-so-gracefully away. I sure put him in his place! :)

So that's the story of Pandora. Yes, life was great then.

Goodbye Boring Blog!

I've decided to making blogging a little more fun to do and more functional at recording our lives.

Each day of the week now has a theme, to be completed weekly. Wish me luck!

Memory Lane Mondays
A random memory from my life before kids.

Toddler Tales Tuesdays
All about my kids' latest and greatest achievements.

Wise Wednesdays
New lessons learned.

Thankful Thursdays
What I'm thankful for at the moment.

Future Fridays
Goals.

Scrambled Saturdays
Miscellaneous and random thoughts. Or maybe just my day off.

Spiritual Sundays
Spiritual insights gained.

I think this should help to spice it up a bit!