Cow burger

We, my husband, son, and myself, are at a eat-in fast food restaurant standing in line reading the menu and discussing what we want to order.  They have turkey burgers, chicken sandwiches, and hamburgers.  When we got to the counter and the person at the asks my son what he'd like to eat his response, "I'd like a cow burger please." 

Why does this make sense to 6 year old?

In the eyes of a 6 year old we eat, chicken, turkey, and cow.  He later asked what is pork, "pork comes from pigs."

We could see the puzzled look in his eyes.

 

On the Road to Perfection

Being perfect is a tough job!  Growing up I never thought of myself as a perfectionist, I was a little OCD but a perfectionist....no. Today I realize I was and am a perfectionist.  

How does one come to realize they are a perfectionist.  It doesn't happen until one day when they have there first panic attract or breakdown over the small details in there lives that are not perfect an no matter how hard they try and no matter what they do, nothing is good enough, by the standards they have set for themselves not standard others have set.

Trying to be the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect teacher, the perfect supervisor, and trying to write the "perfect" curriculum for one of the top rated school districts in the nation, I saw myself falling short in every aspect of my life and from a perfections point of view, my life was falling apart. In actuality my life was not falling apart I was falling apart. I was trying so hard to continue being perfect I was sleeping only a few hours a night.  I was working and taking care of everyone around me from the time I woke up at 4:45 in the morning until the time I went to bed at 11:30 at night.  My home needed to be perfect, my classroom needed to be perfect, my department needed to be perfect, the curriculum which I contributed had to be perfect, my life had to be perfect, and last but not least, I needed to be perfect.  It was too much and I fell flat on my face.

I knew something was wrong, I had no idea what it was, probably just fatigue, so I made an appointment with my doctor.  After speaking with my doctor he sent me to a specialist.  The specialist ordered several blood tests, I say a couple....it was about 15 vials of blood, 10 large and 5 small,  it was probably at least a pint of blood. The doctor said she would call me back if they found anything if not I had a follow up appointment in a month.  I got a call two days later.  The doctor wanted to see me and asked if I would be able to come in the following day.  It was the longest  24 hours of my life. The next day my husband joined me at the doctors office where I was given a diagnosis of Lupus with secondary Sojgrens that changed my life and at that time I had no idea as to how my life would dramatically change.  

When I got the diagnosis I took a deep breathe and told myself okay, no big deal.  It's not life ending or changing but little did I know about Lupus.  My life has been placed on a roller coaster ride.  And being a perfections has become my greatest enemy.  How do I let a lifetime of being a perfections go?  Is it even possible to let it go?

Parenting 101: Nap Time

Parenting 101? I think I skipped that class!?!

On the road to trying to be the "perfect" parent...ha-ha. I have hit many roadblocks along the way. The past two weeks or so I've been trying to figure out when to put my now 16 month old down for naps. He has been on a wonderful schedule since 6 months old--Napping at 9:30 and 2-2:30. He's now not wanting to nap and when he does nap they are turning into shorter naps. How do I go from two naps to one? Do it cold turkey is what I'm assuming. What fun, I don't think I'm ready for that. Like they say, "ready or not!" I guess the upside is, he could take one long nap.

The next question--When is the ideal time to put him down for one nap? After lunch around 11:30-12? I can image lunch time until he adjusts to the new schedule--grumpy, wanting everything or nothing, and possibly a few moments of trying to throw food, and dogs (2 large dogs) running about attempting to benefit from the misguided temper tantrum. Oh--the insanity, I'll need Calgon after that.

Maybe I'll start next week. I just hope I'm up for the challenge and have enough energy!

Saving Time and Money

Recently, I decided the idea of buying groceries on-line was genius in order to save a trip to the grocery store. Not only did I want to avoid gas prices but I also wanted to avoid a trip to the store with a one year old. (Don't worry--we ofen enjoy trips to the store together)

I was told of a ministry that helps feed the homeless, Angle Food Ministries http://www.angelfoodministries.com/. Anyone can buy a box of frozen and boxed food for $30! The proceeds go to feed the less fortunate at the same time helping others save money.

Yes, I was sceptical at first and did some research and decided to try it at least once for the savings (nothing ventured nothing gained). There are other boxes you can add to an order for $20 or so dollars. We added the fresh produce box for $21 and was impressed with the quality of produce in the box. Everything is restaurant grade. The day I picked up my box of food my sceptical husband was amazed at how much food we got for so little $$$. The next day I had to go to the grocery store to buy the basics: Milk, cheese, bread, butter, etc. and spent over $50. Every item I purchased at the store was on sale and could fit in the box I had picked up the day before.

Tonight we enjoyed the baby back ribs that came in the box with our neighbors who are going to be ordering their own box next month.

What's in a Name

It's amazing how the days whiz by; in a matter of seconds my one year old has learned to use a step-stool to climb on the coffee table to play cars with a 10 year old neighbor who are both engaged in racing. Boys are always ready to have fun playing with cars no matter what stage they are in life.

I get the most "joy" out of life being a mom.

My mom called me "joy to the world" for obvious reasons...my name. At one point in my young life when asked my name I answered "joy to the world," my 4 older brothers and sisters laughing and snickering in the back ground. Of course, I thought they were making fun of my name and I started to not like to the name Joy. Later I learned to appreciate it's uniqueness and grew the like it. I am a firm believer in a persons name is a true representation of their personality. For example, my brother Mark--his name means warrior. He is always at war, in a heated debate or at odds about an issue, with someone. I am often told my name is a perfect representation of me and my personality. I hope so!