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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Dec. 7, 2008 - I Don't Know Why I Even Bother
I made supper for my family this evening.
One by one they went into the kitchen and made themselves a peanut butter sandwich. I guess my supper wasn't that great.
Sigh.
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Nov. 29, 2008 - True Thankfulness
As we headed into Thanksgiving, I was letting some things bother me. They were small things and I was aware of that, but I still chose to let those things get to me.
But then the day before Thanksgiving, we heard about the terrorist attacks in India. My brother was there on a business trip. Thankfully he got home two days later. But for a little while my family was pretty scared.
So those little things that were bothering me? I forgot about them pretty quickly and now realize how dumb it was to entertain those thoughts in the first place.
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Nov. 29, 2008 - By The Way...
...The picture on the right? Of the little green guy? I have no idea who he is and how he got there.
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Nov. 19, 2008 - Crabbiness
There are some days when I just want to be a little bit crabby. I tell myself that I have the right to be crabby because of (fill in the blank with various circumstances). And so I indulge myself.
Then what happens is the rest of the family becomes crabby. It is contagious. And then I become more crabby because I want to have the crabbiness all to myself and I wish that my family would stop copying me.
I guess there are a lot of reasons that crabbiness didn't make it into the list of the fruit of the Spirit.
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Nov. 14, 2008 - Saturdays
The other day Abby told me that Friday was her favorite day of the week. I asked her why, and she replied that it was because the next day was Saturday.
Then I asked her why Saturdays were so special. Abby and Emily in unison repied, "Because dad's home."
Sweet.
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Oct. 26, 2008 - Mercy
I got myself into the mess, and it was my job to get myself out.
It was my decision to plant a wildflower garden. I planted the seeds and watched it grow. And it was my decision to just neglect the whole thing until it was an out-of-control mess. I had made my own (garden) bed and needed to lie in it.
So on Saturday I was trying to get the rest of that horrible garden pulled out. My neck and back were so sore. I had to take breaks every few minutes.
But then, like a gift from heaven, Steve and the girls joined me in the garden. We were done in about twenty minutes and I was like a prisoner set free. What a wonderful family!
The cleaned out area is ready for some landscaping fabric and mulch. If it weren't so cold, windy and wet outside I would take a picture to share with you. Maybe tomorrow.
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Oct. 23, 2008 - Three Days in the Garden
Over the next three days I am going to spend as much time as I can pulling out my wildflower garden.
The reward is that on Sunday our family is going to see High School Musical 3.
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Oct. 23, 2008 - Maybe This Shouldn't Bug Me But It Does
Everything I have belongs to God, anyway.
Our next door neighbors are having new siding put on. The work crew has a bunch of their large equipment spread out on our front lawn. And one of the guys has parked his car in our driveway.
Oh, now I just saw them leave cigarette butts and chewing tobacco in our yard and on our driveway.
There are worse things in life. But this DOES bug me.
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Oct. 8, 2008 - Grandpa
Steve's grandpa passed away last week at the age of 96. He was a quiet man compared to Grandma. Everyone has stories to tell about Grandma and her love for shopping and chocolate. But the memories of Grandpa are of a different nature.
What I remember about him was his routine at breakfast. When you were a guest in their home, Grandma and Grandpa would always put out a special breakfast in the morning. And then, at some point during the conversation, Grandpa would always read a devotion and then say a prayer for the day ahead. Steve says that throughout his whole life, every breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa included time for God.
He was a quiet man, but his actions were loud.
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Oct. 4, 2008 - Fall Gardening
Maybe you remember my out-of-control wildflower garden. It would be really cool if I knew how to put a link here so you could read that post.
Well, I'm back to working on it. Did I tell you I had quit? Oh, well, I had quit but now I'm back. And I've discovered that gardening in the fall is so much more pleasant than summer gardening. I can do much more work because I don't get as hot.
What I have been doing is pulling everything out by the roots. No flowers will be saved. Once everything is out I will put down landscaping fabric and have a clean slate to work with in the spring. I would say that right now the garden is about 1/5 cleaned out.
Coming sometime this fall: pictures!
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Oct. 2, 2008 - Lessons from the clearance rack
I have been cleaning out my closet recently, bagging up the clothes I don't wear. And I have noticed a pattern.
Last spring I bought myself six items from the Kohl's clearance rack. I was so proud of myself for getting shirts and sweaters for only $3 each.
But guess what? I am getting rid of five out of the six because I don't like or wear them.
So the lesson to me is that, while clearance racks can have some great finds on them, you still have to be discerning. Some clothes are on the clearance rack because they are just ugly.
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Oct. 2, 2008 - A Call in the Night
It was 3:20 a.m. and the phone was ringing. This can't be good, was my thought as I raced to check the caller i.d.
The caller i.d indicated that the call was from an 800 number. What? I hung up on them. Of course, I did not get back to sleep. Once that adrenaline kicked in, I was awake.
So in the morning, out of curiosity, I googled the 800 number. Turns out it was an automated caller from Continental Airlines which was calling to confirm Steve's flight.
Lovely.
