State of Obvious

I find myself wishing it was all so much easier I see people that seem to skip through life on tip toe, and smiling And I wonder how they do it What's the secret Why can't I learn it. I've gotten good at making mistakes Repeat, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat The rhythm of falling so familiar that I don't feel right without it Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, repeat Stepping back from the brink of disaster is a much harder tune to play. Have you ever been fed up with yourself with your choices with your stumbling with your failing So fed up that the good things seem small and the bad things feel tall I feel that way today.

The first blossoms pop on the tree branches - pinks and whites and happiness. Hard work pays off. I'm not the only one that had a hard time on a test. A basketball game goes down to the last second. I have pizza for dinner. The mailman brings more than just bills. I plant the first seed of spring. I think of my mother-in-law. Eric makes a Poppa face. My iPod only plays good songs. Josh laughs. Carly twirls. I wear a sweatshirt that says "Thing One". I sell a bunch of stuff on ebay. I realize how great things really are.

A while back b-happy, a very talented photographer and writer and mom, posed the question "Is it worth it?" and I've been thinking about that off-and-on for a while. Is it worth it? On days like today when I did more yelling than talking? On days like today when I'm trying to write a paper and forgetting to pay attention to my kids? On days like today when my husband is making dinner again, not to mention helping with homework, doing errands, getting children to school on time in the morning with lunch in hand, holding down a full time job, and just generally doing all the things I don't do? Is it worth it? Despite all the yelling, all the frustration, all the dirty floors and bathrooms, all the questions I can't answer, all the moments that have nothing to do with me and everything to do with them, it's totally worth it. I read skimmed an article about a woman who decided she didn't want to be a mom.  After she already popped out two kid...

aka Another Helpful List keys tapping   wheels rolling     isolation       over-crowded         intimidation           concentration             people watching               introspection                dead-air time to fill                  papers due               excuse making             confidence building           ego shredding         contradiction      ...

The Oscar's were last night.  I watched the first hour before my kids started showing symptoms of withdrawal from lack of cartoons.  A big hub-bub-to-do was made this year about attracting a younger audience.  They hired James Franco (who sucked) and Anne Hathaway (who didn't suck) to host.  I have a few alternatives that are guanranteed to attract that younger-money-spending-culture-obsessed demographic. 1.  Instead of evening gowns, women nominees under the age of 30 are required to wear sequined bikinis.  In place of voting, nominees will endure 4 rounds of mud wrestling, winner takes all. 2.  Only movies that bank more than 100 million dollars can receive nominations of any kind. 3.  Text message voting. 4.  Interactive Wii play, make your favorite celebs follow your commands. 5.  Justin Bieber hands out the awards and a lock of his hair (for that key tween demographic). 6.  John Madden as the commentator.  Boo...

It was one of those Fridays, you know?  I was almost late for my first class (I made it with 1 minute to spare). I almost fell asleep in my third class (I'm not sure how my professor expected me to stay awake while he talked about geometry in space.  I know that other people might find that really exciting, I do not). I ate a delicious calzone for lunch, but only after spilling a whole pop on the ground (that was fun). But then it was time to come home. And now I'm here, in my chair, on the interweb. And even though it was one of those Fridays, I feel lucky. How 'bout you?

This evening my children spent about 30 minutes conspiring.  Conspiring is a mostly beautiful sound.  A lot of "Don't let Mom seeeee!" "Get one of those!" "That's what we need!" instead of the usual "Josh _________ me!" or "CAAARRlllyyYYYY!" I like it when they make up their own little games, I like it more when it involves a surprise for me.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  Crayon drawings?  "Crafts" (quotation marks are the closest thing to sarcasm font on the market today) ?  Edible treats? Wrong, wrong, wrong. My children sued me.  As in, an elaborate trial with a briefcase full of evidence, a possible witness in the form of our dog, and Dad as the judge. I was accused of being unfair.  I took away Josh's TV and video game privileges because he didn't finish his school work by 3pm.  And while I did, and do, find this amusing on many fronts (imagine, if you will, hard core giggling while ...