Alexander's Easter

1. Easter Dinner
2. Elizabeth (our God daughter) and Alexander in the background
3 - 6. Alexander and Andrew eating candy out of Alexander's Easter basket.
7. Playtime

EASTER

Please check out my friend's last two blogs about Easter. This is everything I want to say only better. Just click on the word Easter above. Tomorrow I will share some kiddie Easter pictures.

Battlestar Gallactica Junkies!

Woohoo! Season 3 of Battlestar Gallactica came in the mail today. It made my day, my week and possibly my month. It is just in time for the long weekend. I have not seen this season. I was left hanging early last fall at the dismal end of 2.5.

My boss came into my office and asked why I am grinning from ear to ear. When I told her, she began to chuckle and basically called me a big dork. Yay for Sci-Fi dorks!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I would like to blog a while about my half fabulous, half flu infested trip to New York City, but I cannot just yet. I have to play a couple days of catch up at work, tend to household things, recover from aforementioned flu, and at some point find time to mind my religious duties of Holy Week.

So far, I have begun catching up at work and feeling better from the flu. However, I think I might need to take a break to build an ark, because Waco will surely flood in an hour or two and I will need to float home.

I could have used a pair of rain boots today considering the water is up to my shins. Our luggage from New York is "lost" and in my bag is a pair of boots pilfered from my friend's apartment, said to be abandoned. Hopefully I can enjoyed them before I drown. (Thanks for abandoning boots, Miss Joelle; I will appreciate them.)

Snow Day!

Here is a genuine picture of Waco, Texas from this morning (courtesy of Waco-Tribune Herald).

I let out a most annoyed and annoying groan this morning as I opened our front door to leave the apartment. I have become too accustomed to the warmth of Texas weather. After taking a moment to examine the car and I realized that my car was covered in three inches of snow, I flew back in the house and yelled to Andrew in a sufficiently crabby, nagging voice, "Where is the snow brushy, scrapey thing!" He was not pleased; I was not pleased! I found it and did the scraping, brushing thing. The roads were not too slick and I arrived at work only four minutes late.

Alexander was just precious with the snow. While I was opening the car door, he had to escape my grasp to go touch the snow. Then he came running back over to me to wipe it off his hand. He did not like the cold, messy feeling at first. Then when we arrived at "Day-school," I made a little snow ball with the remaining snow from the car. I put it in his hand and he crushed it. Then he looked up at me with twinkling, happy eyes. These are the moments that make it all worth it. If you do not have kids, you just don't know what that little innocent face can do to you. It really put things in perspective.

I am glad that his preciousness and innocence makes up for it, because I have to say, this weather really got to us. We turned on the heater and it must have dried us out, because we were all coughing, especially Alexander. He coughed all night and nursed all night long. By 5:00 a.m. I was tired, warn out and sore and I could not do it anymore. Andrew tried to help settle him, but he kept on crying. We are all very tired today. We still have much to do to prepare for our trip to New York and Andrew booked us a room in Dallas for tonight, which means driving late tonight. I'm sleepy already. It's going to be a long day, today and tomorrow. Pray for us to be patient.

Go Away T.V. You're Not Welcome Here Anymore - "I am So Over You"

I think I was a better writer in 2007. I went back to look at some of my blogs, though there are some mistakes, I found some of them quite profound and eloquent. I used interesting phrases and big words. I feel stupid now. Who was that writing on my blog? It is sad that I am not more eloquent now.

I must have been reading better books then. All I have been reading for the past three months are parenting books. Parenting books are written pretty simply (third grade level). I do not know if I am getting anything new or non-intuitive from these books. I am going to finish the three books that I have now (I have a thing about finishing books, even when I don't want to--long story) and then I do not think I will read any more parenting books. My sister gave me one called Parenting With Love and Logic. I will not be satisfied until I know what this book has to say.

Parenting is a lot of trial and error (and prayer), because you are dealing with young, inexperienced humans. A lot of parenting has to do with confidence in how you discipline (=to teach) and changing it if it does not get through to your child. Of course, I am no grand master at this parenting thing as I have fumbled through in the dark. (Yeah baby! I rock! Go Moms! You rock!) But, Alexander is still alive and well. I think that I have done an okay job with him.

I think I need more practice. Better get working on children # 2 through 8. I should read better books too. Step One: Cancel the cable. Andrew, I don't know why you care so much if I cancel it. You hardly ever watch T.V. I bet you thought this blog was going to be all about T.V.

Interesting

www.Godtube.com

Sexy Soccer Mom Hair

The Nun in Me

Well, I cut my hair short last night—real short. It’s a bob. I was attempting a Katie Holmes look, because while I know I do not really look like her we do share a lot of similar features: dark hair, big eyes, big eye lashes, long jaw line, goofy grins. I went to Great Clips, because I am cheap. It did not turn out to be such a cheap hair cut and she did not really do what I asked. I took in a picture of Katie Holmes from a hair styling website and right below it said to ask the hair stylist for “a wedgey bob with layers for volume.” So that’s what I asked for and she did her own thing anyway. One, it really is not wedgey at all. It’s just short and kind of boyish. She cut icky bangs in front. She said she was going ot frame my face. Why do stylists always want to do that to me? Stop cutting my hair short in front! I did not even know she was doing it until it was done. She tried to tell me that the cut Katie Holmes had was a straight cut bob. (She had given me an unattractive bowl cut.) I was really polite and said, “I think I really want it shorter in back," (to complete the wedgey bob look). It came out shorter than I intended, but I can work with it. After some styling this morning it is more Katie Holmes-esque. It will grow out pretty cute. It’s pretty cute today anyway. I got the name of a stylist who guarantees a wedgey bob—next time! I was just hoping to look really chic and sexy for our trip to the Big Apple next week. I think I look like an adorable, soccer mom. C’est la vie. Est ce ce que vous obtenez quand vous êtes bon marché. (That is what you get when you are cheap. Although, Bon Marche literally translates as "good buy" and this was not a good buy.) I will try to provide a picture for those who are curious.

The blog helps me get annoying thoughts out of my mind—like an obsession to get a chic, wedgey bob. I should have blogged about it, then maybe I would have not gone to Great Clips...Na, just kidding my cheapness will not go away. Even when I was a little kid I was cheap. I remember doing all sorts of weird cheap things. It is not that I am afraid to spend money. I will spend with glee. I just have to feel like I am not spending too much while I do it. Or, I have to know that I “need” it and not “want” it.

I think what created “Cheap Renee” was my second grade year in school. I went to a poor Catholic school and my grandmother moved in with our family. The Catholic school was run by nuns and they had all grown up in the Great Depression Era. The principal, Sister Katherine Mary, was over six foot tall. She grew up with six siblings all large/tall girls. Needless to say, feeding six large girls during the Great Depression was an impossible feat. They went hungry a lot and eventually their parents shipped them all off to convents just so they could be fed (probably not just to be fed, but that was a major factor). Sister Katherine Mary taught us all a lot about appreciating what you have and not wasting. No student could leave the lunch room without finishing their entire lunch. There was very little waste. After the Thanksgiving holiday she collected turkey carcasses from parishioners and the students’ families. She and the other nuns would pick meat off the bones, so they had meat and again, no waste.

While Sister Katherine Mary was making a huge impression on me, my grandmother, who also grew up in the Great Depression, moved in with my family. The way she lived and acted and the lessons she taught us were very similar. She taught me to only take what I needed and not anything more. Combined these two women taught me to never ask for more, because I did not need it; I have so many things and blessings. It is very easy to live happily on very little. It is very hard to want much and have much. I could go on and on about these lessons on need and want. The point is, there is a little voice in the back of my head saying, “You don’t need it.” and, “Less is simpler.” "Don't spend too much." Simplicity is one of the ways to get closer to God.