confessions of a type a wanna be wife

/ emmykay / 2 Comments

Let’s be real here: while I’d LOVE to be a type A wife, who is able to work and put dinner on the table while keeping cupboards organized and dressing fashionably, I usually wind up more like a hot mess.

Confession 1: Snowblowing fashionista

Hey, when they said “protective eyewear” I took it seriously.  Don’t be jealous – you can get a pair at Home Depot.

***

Confession 2: “Honey, can you pick up some more rice at the store?”

Three boxes?  Really?? wait… What do I spy with my little eye??


A FOURTH box of rice hiding behind the flour.  Anyone want to come over for dinner?  Oh, and perhaps you noticed the spices on the microwave?  That leads me to confession #3…

***

Confession 3: Speaking of kitchens…

Frank loves spices.  He’s great at using them and mixing them and making dishes delish.  The downside:

Oh look - some spices!

... and some more spices...

... more?

Seriously?

So yeah.  I’ve confessed.  Now I’m going to make a spicy rice dish before I go to the mall wearing my “protective eyewear.”

It’s not easy starting fashion trends.

o negative

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Even though I could tell you before having my blood tested that I had o negative blood type, it was nice to confirm that I still have o negative blood.  My mom and dad are both o negative.  If I wasn’t o negative, we’d have to have a little conversation on Jerry Springer.

So in the midst of chatting with my nurse, it was good to hear that I am still o negative.  Thank goodness for consistency!

women in skirts.

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So I had the honor, nay, the privilege of being among an army of ladies in skirts that descended upon Rosemont, IL yesterday.

See, as you may recall, I started my Mary Kay business last November.  Today was “ChicagoRama” – an all day function that was meant to inspire and motivate and educate.

How did I do today?  Well, I was definitely educated.  I learned about vitamins and peptides and moisturizers – oh my!

And I was motivated.  It sure is hard NOT to be motivated when you are surrounded by women of all ages who are cheering and bopping to music.

And I was pretty inspired.  But the inspiration really set in when I realized it was almost impossible to distinguish the ages of many of the women – my early 70’s director looks like she’s in her late 40’s – all thanks to their long-time use of Mary Kay products. Pretty impressive!

I pity any guy that found themselves in the midst of the clapping, yelling, dancing, cheering.

bold blogging

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Since MckMama challenged all of her readers to blog boldly, I have:

  • a. blogged boldly
  • b. folded laundry
  • c. watched too much Greek
  • d. been paralyzed with fear by that challenge and opted to just do b&c.

The answer … after a word from the only sponsor of this blog: me.

Need a facial?  Email me.  I’m a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant.  I’ve used the product for years and love it.  It’s awesome.  You have to try it.

‘Nuff said.

For those of you paying careful attention to my blog lately (which, based on my blog counter, is probably only FK [and I don’t mean “only” like, “bah, it’s just FK”, but rather “only” like “singularly”]), then you know that the answer is d.

I wish I had prizes for you, but … I don’t.  So sorry.

 My 2010 resolution for my blog is to blog boldly.  What that is going to look like is anyone’s guess.

Will I boldly tell you about my love for Magic Shell?

Will I boldly tell you that I am measuring my food so that I am certain that I am actually only eating a 1/2 cup of ice cream (side note: a 1/2 cup is more than you would think!) and 2 tsp of Magic Shell?

Will I boldly tell you that I almost bled out at the doctor’s office today when I got my glucose tolerance test taken?  (oh yeah, blood everywhere – floor, chair, gloves, shirt)  Or will I also boldly mention that when I got into my car, I started to wonder if I was still bleeding out (my shirt was damp from bleeding out the first time), but I was so hungry from the fasting that I applied pressure to my arm while driving to the McDonald’s?

Can you handle the boldness?

I thought so. 

Boldly, Em

happy 2010, world!

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I hope that everyone has a safe and festive new year celebration!  Tonight was the first new years in 7 years that FK and I weren’t together.  That’s ok, though – we chatted on the phone and I spent the evening with wonderful friends who made the evening fun and carefree.  Loved it!

Thanks to Allison, Luke, Meghan, Mark, Dorothy, Erik, Margy, Abby, Eddie, Steve and all the rest of the wonderful people at Allison’s who made the new year celebration bright!

2009 review

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This year was dominated by a few themes:

Old Made New Again

This theme happened in several ways.  We moved back to Illinois in 2008, not sure what it would really be like.  What has happened is that many of our friendships that were old have become new again.  There are so many examples of this regeneration, but specifically I think of one of my longest friendships with Miss Allison Claire.  When we were little, we played together nearly every day.  There was a rule established that we couldn’t call or go over to each other’s homes before 9 a.m. – and this was established to save our mothers from losing their minds!  As we got older, we went separate ways and our friendship was basically on life support because we rarely saw each other.  Since we’ve moved back, Allison and I see each other nearly every week!  She is truly a joy to spend time with and one of the most positive people I know.  I experienced similar rebirths with other friends – and it is awesome!  I feel surrounded by wonderful women that I love.  It is awesome!

But this theme didn’t just end with friendships, it also carried on to one of the most important relationships in my life – my marriage.  Frank and I celebrated our 6th year of marriage.  At a time when many marriages start feeling stale, our marriage is still fresh and interesting.  One of the pastors at church said the other week, “Presumed familiarity breeds unfamiliarity” – so true!  Even though Frank and I know each other so well, we keep learning new things about each other – and with each other.  Sure, it hasn’t all been rosy this year, but that’s ok.

Being Humbled

This year has also been the year of being humbled.  Yeah, I’ve had to swallow my pride on a few fronts.  Medically speaking, I’ve been exposed in just about every way possible.  Blood draws, invasive ultra-sounds and interesting procedures involving catheters.  That’s pretty humbling.

It’s also been humbling because we’ve come face to face with some of our biggest fears and had to ask for help along the way.  We’ve had to acknowledge that many of the things we experienced were outside of our control – like Frank’s work schedule and our infertility issues.  While we’ve known logically for quite some time that God is bigger than us, these situations have caused us to come face-to-face with our own limitations and humanity.  Or something like that.  The point is, we continue to be reminded that while there are a great many things we can do, we are ultimately not the ones in control.  We are small while God is great.

Ha ha ha

We’ve also been blessed with lots of joy in the midst of crazy times.  Tonight as I finished writing this, Frank was sitting next to me and every time I took a sip of the Diet Pomegranate 7-Up, Frank made slurping sounds trying to get me to spit out my drink.  The result was that he made himself laugh so much he couldn’t even drink.  Special times, for sure.  And if we can laugh in the midst of all the stuff we’re going through, that is truly a blessing.

With almost 24 hours left in 2009, it is impossible not to recognize the amazing blessings we’ve had this year: jobs, shelter, family, and friends.  I’m excited to move forward into 2010 and to see all of the new things God has in store for us.  I wish you all a very safe and happy new year!

See you on the flip side…

obsessions

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today, in between plowing the driveway, cleaning up and doing laundry, I was obsessively watching a few shows.

first, i dabbled in some E! No, not the drug , but worse – the TV channel.

Why, oh why! do I love watching Kendra and the Kardashians?  They are all so self absorbed and uninteresting, and yet I can barely pull myself away from the car accident happening before my very eyes.

And then, as if it couldn’t get worse – I got sucked into HGTV’s suite of mind numbing TV shows.  And I must confess, I have looked around our living room a few times thinking about how I would change things.  Mmmm…  Maybe I should go to the grocery store and then stop at Ace and get some paint… wait… NO!!  Don’t do it…

Does anyone know how to install recessed lighting in  30 minutes or less?

Just curious…

christmas with the fam

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normal family (except for weird devil dog picture)

 

493 divided by 23.3

hmmmm….

uh oh… Mom’s mad!  (notice that Andy is instinctively pointing at Caitlin…)

now we’ve done it!  we woke  up Dad!  here he comes!!

Funny true story about waking up our dad in the middle of the night.

Caitlin and I were up late one night, playing around on instant messenger with her friends.  No good can come from us being up after midnight: it’s a fact. 

Well, anyway, somehow my parents went to bed without realizing that we were still up and playing on the computer at 2 a.m.

Eventually our giggling woke up our dad 2 floors over us.  We heard his feet hit the ground next to his bed and we KNEW we were in trouble.  I tried to quickly shut down the computer and turn out the lights while Caitlin brilliantly started pacing in circles and then locked herself in the furnace room, still walking in circles and laughing the laugh of a girl in trouble.

Now, my dad is hilarious when he is mad.  It’s not funny at the time – it’s usually pretty intimidating – but man, in retrospect, it’s pretty funny.  When Dad is awakened from his slumber (which is often because he is a light sleeper), he squints with one eye and scratches his butt.  I don’t know why he scratches his butt and I’m not sure what is accomplished with this maneuver, but that’s just what he does. 

So when we heard Dad coming down the stairs, we knew he’d be squinting and scratching and generally not pleased with the two of us.  I barely got the computer turned off before Dad made it all the way from his room to the basement. 

“What is going on down here?  What are you doing up?” asked Dad.  And when I say “asked”, I mean “growled”.  Also, I am significantly editing the colorful language dad used when asking these questions.

“We were on the computer….” I replied lamely, racing to the stairs, following Caitlin up the stairs (somehow she made it out of the furnace room and to the stairs before I did).

“Uh uh uh uh uh… uh… uh…” replied Caitlin.

“Get to bed.  Gettobed! Get. To. Bed! NOW!  What is wrong with you people??”

I guessed correctly that the last question was rhetorical in nature and wisely declined to respond.

“Ok ok ok ok!” I was panting as I was racing up the stairs behind Caitlin.  Dad posed no physical threat, but the faster we got to bed, the sooner the squinting and scratching would cease.

Caitlin was up those stairs so fast that she was already cowering under her covers before I got up there. 

Lesson? For pete’s sake – don’t wake up Dad!!