Our church put on a beautiful patriotic program this morning. I have a lot of respect for our military in general (see my Memorial Day post for the list of friends and family in the military) and my mom was always a red, white, and blue nut, especially around the 4th of July, so a good rendition of a patriotic song can move me to tears (they opened the service with an abbreviated version of God Bless the USA, which was beautiful) and I as I watched the video images of the flag, the military cemeteries, the images from our nations history, I started to think about all the men (and women) in the military today - how so many of them are younger than I am (including 2 of my step-brothers, currently serving over seas) and how they are all sons of somebody, etc. And how I'm going to have a son soon. And there will come a time when he turns 18 that he has to register for selective service... and how whether drafted (hopefully that won't need to happen again) or volunteering, there is a chance that he could someday serve in the military. (I suppose I could say the same for Fuss, since there are lots of women in the military, too, but for some reason it doesn't seem as likely - I guess despite the advances in gender neutrality, we still think of soldiers as men...) and I suddenly felt very weird. MY son could go fight a war some day. MY son could work to protect our country, to protect the freedoms that we so often take for granted. It made it that much more real somehow.
The 4th of July is a day to celebrate the birth of our nation. It's day to celebrate the past, our history, our Independence. But it is also a day to think about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for that independence - and those who are still out there today, working to keep those freedoms, and willing to do make sacrifices for us. It's also a day to look toward the future of our country and pray for our children and their futures - that maybe, some day those sacrifices won't have to be made...
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
7 Quick Takes
1. Got to see my friends' baby last night and she was SO tiny. Fuss was 2 pounds heavier at birth, so I am not used to tiny babies! :) But it was nice to meet her...
2. Despite my best hopes, no forward progress has been made on the new room in the last 2 days - we realized some more complicated demo had to be done on the far wall since it was thrown together by the previous constructors. I still don't have a closed in space and my dad is going out of town for the long weekend (a well-needed vacation for him) so not much will happen this weekend, either! Ah well!
3. I cannot seem to get my house in order. It is starting to drive me bonkers.
4. I'm struggling between wanting the next 9 weeks to fly and wanting them to slow down. I am ready to have this baby, but there is SO much to do between now and then.
5. Going to a 4th of July party at my oldest friend's parents' condo on the beach this weekend. Bringing Fuss this year (we left her with Grandma last year) so I hope she is well-behaved. She's been SUCH a Drama Queen lately.
6. My head plays PBS theme songs in the middle of the night. I miss the days when it was trendy show tunes.
7. Heading to IKEA w/ my mom and Fuss today. I may try out their kids' play area w/ Fuss for the first time. We shall see.
For more Quick Takes, click here.
2. Despite my best hopes, no forward progress has been made on the new room in the last 2 days - we realized some more complicated demo had to be done on the far wall since it was thrown together by the previous constructors. I still don't have a closed in space and my dad is going out of town for the long weekend (a well-needed vacation for him) so not much will happen this weekend, either! Ah well!
3. I cannot seem to get my house in order. It is starting to drive me bonkers.
4. I'm struggling between wanting the next 9 weeks to fly and wanting them to slow down. I am ready to have this baby, but there is SO much to do between now and then.
5. Going to a 4th of July party at my oldest friend's parents' condo on the beach this weekend. Bringing Fuss this year (we left her with Grandma last year) so I hope she is well-behaved. She's been SUCH a Drama Queen lately.
6. My head plays PBS theme songs in the middle of the night. I miss the days when it was trendy show tunes.
7. Heading to IKEA w/ my mom and Fuss today. I may try out their kids' play area w/ Fuss for the first time. We shall see.
For more Quick Takes, click here.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Thoughtful Thursday: Housework and such
I scrubbed and scrubbed my kitchen the other day - it was SO pretty - the sink was shiny and the stove top was crud-free, the counters were clear... it had been a day or two since it was looking good and about a week since it was perfect. (This is actually a major improvement for me. I have not been great about doing this regularly, so my new-found domesticity is a nice change.) However... last night my husband made his now-semi-famous Creole in bulk for an office potluck party today. And now my kitchen is a disaster. This is why I rarely used to work on my kitchen very hard - it always gets messed up SO fast. There are also a ton (okay, a dozen) cleaned, empty wine bottles gathering on the counters for my husbands new hobby of wine-making (also a messy adventure!)
I get discouraged by my messy house. I hate looking everywhere and seeing disorganization, clutter, mess, etc. It doesn't make me comfortable in my own home, which is a bad feeling. I've never been a great housekeeper - I blame my childhood. My mom was both a little mentally scattered and very busy outside the home (she had a full-time job from about the time I was 4 or 5 and she likes knick-knacks and "stuff" so our house was always at least a little cluttered, etc.) and was never very into a cleaning. We would often let the house get kind of messy - not dirty, per se, but messy and cluttered and disorganized. So then we'd have to spend a day or two to cleaning and it would be nice for awhile, but we'd let it get away from us... And my husband's mom is way worse, so he isn't terribly picky about housework (I am blessed - I know a lot of guys who are cranky about mess and clutter... including my own dad. Of course, he wasn't ever willing to participate in the cleaning up, so he mostly let it slide, but he complained plenty). But I feel more like now that I stay home so much more, I should have the house in better order. (although I fully expect it to slip again when the baby is born - I think everybody's house suffers a bit when they have a new baby!)
But right now my house is so FULL. We have way too much stuff crammed into our space because of the construction. When my dad made mention yesterday of having to do some inside demolition earlier than originally planned, I panicked. WHERE are we going to put this stuff? Our living room is going to be unlivable. Our dining room will be useless. I'm going to be somewhat miserable with all the chaos. But I'm hoping that it's all going to be worth it - lots more space for stuff and storage!
I am officially 30 weeks today. This means 9 weeks until my likely induction. I am very excited by that, but also a little nervous about getting everything done. Once again, I am dependent on other people to help finish all I need to do to be prepared for this baby! I am also grateful that my dad hired some temporary help to cover the vacations coming up that he and I were going to have to cover (and whatever I couldn't do was going to prevent him from working on the room any further).
I get discouraged by my messy house. I hate looking everywhere and seeing disorganization, clutter, mess, etc. It doesn't make me comfortable in my own home, which is a bad feeling. I've never been a great housekeeper - I blame my childhood. My mom was both a little mentally scattered and very busy outside the home (she had a full-time job from about the time I was 4 or 5 and she likes knick-knacks and "stuff" so our house was always at least a little cluttered, etc.) and was never very into a cleaning. We would often let the house get kind of messy - not dirty, per se, but messy and cluttered and disorganized. So then we'd have to spend a day or two to cleaning and it would be nice for awhile, but we'd let it get away from us... And my husband's mom is way worse, so he isn't terribly picky about housework (I am blessed - I know a lot of guys who are cranky about mess and clutter... including my own dad. Of course, he wasn't ever willing to participate in the cleaning up, so he mostly let it slide, but he complained plenty). But I feel more like now that I stay home so much more, I should have the house in better order. (although I fully expect it to slip again when the baby is born - I think everybody's house suffers a bit when they have a new baby!)
But right now my house is so FULL. We have way too much stuff crammed into our space because of the construction. When my dad made mention yesterday of having to do some inside demolition earlier than originally planned, I panicked. WHERE are we going to put this stuff? Our living room is going to be unlivable. Our dining room will be useless. I'm going to be somewhat miserable with all the chaos. But I'm hoping that it's all going to be worth it - lots more space for stuff and storage!
I am officially 30 weeks today. This means 9 weeks until my likely induction. I am very excited by that, but also a little nervous about getting everything done. Once again, I am dependent on other people to help finish all I need to do to be prepared for this baby! I am also grateful that my dad hired some temporary help to cover the vacations coming up that he and I were going to have to cover (and whatever I couldn't do was going to prevent him from working on the room any further).
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