Jun. 9, 2009 - Dear Family
Dear Family Member Who Shall Remain Unnamed,
I appreciate the fact that when our cat vomited, you cleaned it up and told me about it later. As you know, I have been extremely tired lately and am thankful any time other people pitch in and help around the house.
Please use a paper towel next time, though, and not the kitchen sponge.
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May. 3, 2009 - Choices
There are many, many things I wish I had known when I was younger, and I try to pass those things on to my daughters.
One of those things has been the idea that we can choose our emotions and attitudes. I have spent most of my life believing that I am a victim of my emotions, but that just isn't true. Even in church today, our pastor said that being crabby is a choice we make. God keeps working with me on this issue and I want to model this for my giris.
Two weeks ago was the day of Abby's birthdy party with her friends. I woke up that morning and was simply exhausted. I had no idea how I was going to get through the day. But God gently reminded me that I had a choice to make: I could mope around and feel sorry for myself, which would put a damper on Abby's exciting day, or I could paste a smile on my face and let Abby know how excited I was for her party. I chose the latter. And you know what? We had a great day.
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Apr. 28, 2009 - Good News, Bad News
Good news: Emily was the only girl in her level one ballet and pointe class to pass to level 2 for next year. The girl is amazing.
Bad news: Next year's level 2 ballet and pointe class is on Tuesday evenings from 8:00 til 9:30. I'll have to wear my pajamas. Seriously, friends, this is going to be late for me.
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Apr. 27, 2009 - Vent
I know it's weird to blog about facebook but I've got to get this off my chest.
I was just unfriended by one of my high school friends. This person and I still have some mutual friends on facebook. I just don't get it.
I want to write a note to them and ask about it, but that would be so lame and awkward. I'll try my best to let it go.
End of vent.
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Apr. 7, 2009 - Public Confession
Today I was making a list for my Easter shopping and Emily saw me write "Cadbury eggs" on it. She asked me what they were.
I told her that I buy them every year and I was surprised she didn't know about them. I kept describing them but she still had no idea.
Then I realized that I do buy them every year, but my kids have never seen them because I hoard them and eat them all myself. Oops.
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Apr. 2, 2009 - Ding Dong
It was about a year ago when I did something that was a bad example to my girls. I try to be conscious of modeling healthy, safe boundaries. But on this evening, Steve was out of town and at 9:00 the doorbell rang. It was completely dark outside and there was a man at the door. I answered it. He was getting signatures for a petition.
When I told Steve about it, he was unhappy with me. I knew it was foolish, too. Even during the day, I told the girls, we don't need to answer the door to someone we don't know.
So this afternoon the doorbell rang. I peeked around the corner and saw a man in a unform. A Schwan's truck was parked in the street. He probably saw me through the window, but I wanted to show the girls that it doesn't matter. We can be home and not answer the door.
It's funny how hard it is. It feels like I'm hurting someone's feelings. But at the same time it feels kinda nice.
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Mar. 24, 2009 - Footloose
Today I saw an entertainment headline announcing that Zac Efron had pulled out of the remake of Footloose. That's too bad. I totally would have gone to see it. He would have been a perfect Ren.
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Mar. 16, 2009 - Peace and Quiet in the Kitchen
Tihs weekend I redecorated in the space above our kitchen cupboards. For seven years I had had a collection of all sorts of old, antique kitchen items in the space. It was kind of fun and interesting to look at. But lately I've wanted a clean, quiet look, so I went to Marshall's and brought home a collection of glassware.
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Mar. 9, 2009 - The S Word
We've been watching The Brady Bunch through Netflix. Here's what happened in the latest episode:
Greg: "Mom, Bobby has been a real stinker lately."
Mrs. Brady: "Greg, you know I don't like when you use that word!"
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Mar. 9, 2009 - Experiment Results
So we had the big time change over the weekend. I prepared for it by getting up a little earlier all week long.
Sunday morning wasn't so rough. I was glad I had prepared myself for the change. But today, Monday, it was rough. So did it help? A little.
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Mar. 3, 2009 - The Experiment
This weekend is the spring forward time change. Losing that hour is sometimes tough.
So this week I have been getting myself up five or ten minutes earlier each day, hoping to make that adjustment a little easier. Next week I'll let you know if it helped.
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Feb. 26, 2009 - When It's Time to Change, You've Got to Rearrange
My last blog was about how we were re-decorating Abby's room. She has such a hard time with change.
Yesterday we were putting the finishing touches on her room when Emily walked in and asked if we liked her hair. She had parted it on the side instead of in the middle as usual.
Abby said she didn't think Emily should change the part in her hair because that would be too many changes at once.
I haven't told Abby that this weekend Steve is trading in his car for a different one. Her world is about to turned upside down.
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Feb. 23, 2009 - Dear Abby
We've been repainting and redecorating Abby's room. She's turning nine and we want her room to look more tween and less little girl.
Last night after we tucked her in, I could hear her crying in her room. So I went to her and she told me that she likes her new room, but misses the old one. She was only two years old when we moved into this house, so this room is really the only room she can remember.
So I hugged her and told her it was okay to be sad. Changes - even good ones - still come with feelings of loss.
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Feb. 23, 2009 - Filterless Fun
For the last few days I've been pretty cranky and have been living without my filter. You know, the filter that is between your brain and your mouth. So I've just been blurting out whatever is on my mind and letting people know what I REALLY think. I have to admit that it is pretty fun to shock my friends and family with this attitude. But deep inside I know I am not exercising the self-control that I should.
Yesterday we were on the way home from church. I had been pretty cranky all morning and almost got myself into trouble at church a couple of times. But then Steve said, "You've had quite a bad attitude for the last few days. What's going on?"
All of the sudden it wasn't fun anymore. Just having him point it out took away the humor and I felt a little ashamed. So I'm working on getting that filter put back in place. I don't want to go to the grocery store without it.
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Feb. 17, 2009 - facebook
I have to admit that though I have loved facebook, it has started to feel a little out of control to me. Suddenly I am being "found" but don't want to be. Every other day or so I get a friend request from someone who asks, "Are you Kris Bahr from high school?" Yes, yes I am.
I think the reason I don't want to be found by my high school friends is that I wish I had been a better person then, and so I feel a little ashamed of myself. I wish I had been bolder, more inclusive and more genuine. The best I can do is just try to be that kind of person now, right?
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Jan. 29, 2009 - Digital Transition
Two years ago we bought something I have loved: a dvd recorder with a vcr. I have been able to transfer our home videos onto dvds. And any time I want to record a show (American Idol or The Office) I can record it on a dvd.
But I recently discovered that this thing only records analog channels. Even though it is connected to a digital television, the dvd recorder still needs to have its own digital tuner to pick up digital channels. So on Feb 17th it will no longer work.
I wonder about people who record with vcrs. Even if they plug the vcr into a digital converter box, I wonder whether it will still work.
Anyway, I guess we will replace our dvd recorder with a new one that has a digital tuner. It's no big crisis, but I am a little bummed.
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Jan. 29, 2009 - Five Hours
I recently calculated the number of hours that I spend sitting each week while the girls are in dance lessons or at church activities. It's about five or more depending on the week.
The problem is that I am running out of things to do while I'm sitting. I have been reading, knitting, doing sodukus, listening to my ipod, doing my Bible study, making lists of things to get done at home, and running errands. But I am now burned out on all of these things.
What I really need to do is to convince Steve that I need a laptop. Then I could spend my five hours blogging and facebooking. It makes perfect sense to me.
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Jan. 7, 2009 - Family Ties
I've always loved music: learning music, playing music, talking about music, performing music, listening to live music, etc. But I've always felt like a bit of a freak because no one else in my family shares that passion. No aunts or uncles or cousins or even siblings share it. The closest was my grandpa on my mom's side who was a self-taught pianist. I always felt a special connection to him because we were the musicians in the family.
Last week we were at my parents' house and my dad got out a diary kept by my great-grandpa. And Dad started telling stories about how my great-grandparents were homesteaders in North Dakota. But my Great Grandma Lydia was also a musician. She was a terrific piano player and singer. And she went to two different churches every Sunday to play the piano and direct the choir. One was a Baptist church and the other was a Congregationalist. They arranged their service times so that she could serve in both churches. She sounds like a kindred spirit.
My great-grandparents had 13 children. Almost all of them were extremely musical. My grandpa happened to be one of the ones who was NOT musical, and so my dad and his siblings have none of the music gene.
It's hard to put into words, but now I feel a little less like a freak. :)
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Jan. 5, 2009 - Ouch
Getting back into the routine is just painful.
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Dec. 30, 2008 - Not So Fantastic
I know that I only paid $12 for my daughter's haircut. But still, it shouldn't be a whole inch longer on one side.
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