Blogging ...

I love my life. 

Joshua is such a joy, my husband is such a servant and leader, and I love Fall. 

It's strange to live in this new place, and not really know anyone, but it has been good for us--good for me. 

Instead of running off to hang out with teens, meet with a friend, or crash at my parents' place, I have to--get to--learn to do life all by myself. Be a mom, all by myself. Get through day-to-day life with an 18 month old, all by myself. 

And what I'm learning, is that I don't have to "get through" or "deal"--it's great! I love it! Yeah, it's tough discerning what's best for him all day long, and it's hard sometimes to lay down my own desires minute after minute, but it's so exhilarating to realize that I CAN do this. I can be a Mom, I can keep a house (keep it perfect? No. Keep it liveable and happy? Yes.) I can work, I can enjoy, I can live in this new place, with my husband, with my son, all by myself.

Lessons Learned Today

1. Never ever. ever. ever ever ever ever trust an airline when they tell you your checked bag will arrive with you at your new destination after they've cancelled your flight and rebooked you on a different airline. NEVER.

2. Stop sharing so many kisses, apples, spoonfuls, and straws with your son. He is ALWAYS carrying germs. Always.

3. Sickness will hit you when you travel. Period.

4. Don't travel for business to Dallas during the state fair. So. Many. People. .......

5. No matter how much extra space they take, how much extra effort it is, always ALWAYS keep your laptop charging cord, your iPhone charging cord, and your training materials with you when traveling. Refer to lesson #1 for reference.

6. Learn to be more assertive and less push-overy with airline representatives.

7. Always carry a snack. I thought I'd learned this when pregnant, but apparently I forgot it.

8. Laptop bags without straps are sinful.

9. Somehow I will always choose to recommit to lunges and squats the day before traveling. Making the traveling day a very very sore one for me.

10. My Dad always comes through. Always.

11. Downtown hotels may be cooler, but they are further away from amenities. Like, department stores and Apple stores and copier stores .... see lesson 1 and 5 for reference.

12. Travel in business clothes. Not jeans, sneakers, an old shirt and light weight sweater. Now I understand why business people travel in their clothes--so when the airlines lose their bag, they can still go to work in the morning.

Real business people don't check their bags. Oh--right. I forgot.

Real business people also don't travel with their 18 month old.

Real business people don't have the pleasure of routing themselves through Denver to hug their parents and drop off the 18 month old on their way to work in Dallas.

Real business people don't have the heartwarming experience of watching their son jump and run/waddle toward his Grandpa and Grandma with a huge grin on his face while routing themselves through Denver on their way to work in Dallas.

So .... I guess the problem started today when I took off my business person hat and put on my mommy hat and packed according to being a mommy not a business person .... and then United cancelled my flight to Dallas Love Field, and rebooked me on American to Dallas/Fort Worth and didn't send my one lonely checked bag ....

All because I didn't want to carry an extra bag along with the 18 month old, the diaper bag, the stroller and the Elmo backpack full of books and snacks.

Am I worried about my 9am training session tomorrow, for which I need handouts, business attire, make up, hair products, and heels? Nah--there's a Target 1.7 miles away. I'll manage.

So, biggest lesson of all? Hmm .... sometimes, you just have a perfect storm of poor decisions, cancelled flights, and snotty noses.Oh--and never ever ever ever EVER trust an airline with the materials and clothing that you need at 9am the next day. EVER.

I'm a MOP ... What?

I just spent a little under an hour coloring. Don't get me wrong--I LOVE coloring. I just don't spend a lot of time doing it anymore. What got me coloring you ask? MOPS. 

I have a funny history with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). My Mom was a Mentor Mom (a woman with children out of the preschool age who attends MOPS to offer wisdom) for a while, and I respected her involvement in it, but declared it would never be for me. I don't do crafts. I don't love to cut coupons. I didn't think I'd need to talk (so much) about my child ... My friend Becky practically forced me to join MOPS as a way to meet people and get out of the house in my new town. 

It was a good decision.

Tonight, I colored. (Making matching games for Joshua!) And because of MOPS, Joshua and I played with wagon wheel pasta today. And I just sat back, laughed at my son, made funny noises, and enjoyed the "process". I enjoyed the process of play, the process of bonding, the process of teaching, the process of ... cleaning ... :)

Look at him developing fine motor skills!

Yay for pre-math skills! :)

What a helper ... Loving the process!

Thanks MOPS for equipping this MOP with fun activities--something OTHER than "keep the technology away from the baby..." :)

(this is the point in the process when I realized we were nearing the close of this fine activity....)

Dear Joshua: You're Hilarious

Dear Joshua,

Thank you for being so funny! Your silly grins, crazy antics and tiny little sense of humor completely and totally make up for the tantrums you've discovered, the loud opinions you love to voice and the never ending messy diapers and food fights.

Thank you for loving me so much! My mommy-heart swells when you grin so huge when you see me, and I can hardly stand how much you love your father. The recognition and genuine love I see on your face when you see us, the crazy amount of time you want to spend with us ... I'm soaking it all up because I know it will morph and change. But for right now, all you want is mama and dada and I LOVE IT.

Thank you for being so active! Sometimes I feel like a horrible mommy because we watch cartoons, but then I realize you're dancing, and twirling, and running and jumping--and that's all just while watching some T.V.! Then we go to the park, and the other park, and the other park, and the backyard and the mailbox, and pretty soon, I'm just worn out.

Thank you for learning sign language! Without "more," "please," "all done," and "thank you," Mommy would be going INSANE! Please now learn some more words, OK? To start, how about "Mama"? Because it's really funny when you point right at me and say, "Dada" but actually not so much. :)

Love you Joshua, you're the best ever!