My Little Feminist /sarcasm

After driving Mandy to work this morning, and getting Lily settled down with some cartoons, I decided I should mow the lawn. I have a very brown thumb but I still am determined to have a nice yard. I told Lily I was going out to the back yard to mow and
she told me,

"girls don't mow, only boys mow"

Lily out-climbs, out-runs, out-jumps, every boy on the playground. She may like to wear pink but she is a rough little girl. Where have I gone wrong, how have I failed? Where is my little feminist? I was so upset.

I spent 45 minutes trying to get the mower to start, now I am blogging. Where are all the boys?

Jeff is off at the Bataan Memorial Death March this weekend. Have fun baby, don't worry I will find a way to mow even if I have to go and buy an electric lawn mower. Why don't they just have a key starter like the car?

One Year in Mississippi

Today is our one year anniversary of moving here to Mississippi. One year without getting on a single airplane, lovely. Our trip here from Misawa was a nightmare. We lived in a very small town in northern Japan and were traveling with a dog, a cat, a three year old, a 16 year old, and one ton of luggage. Here is what I blogged last year about our journey...

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Old black water, keep on rolling
Mississippi Moon wont ya Keep on shinning on me?

We were listening to the radio and the song, began to play on the radio just as we were driving past the sign WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. We all sang along. We hadn’t planned on driving into Mississippi, but we missed our connection in Atlanta. We were put on stand by to get onto the next flight into Gulf Port, Mississippi but we did not make it on the plane. Our pets and luggage however did make it on the plane without us. They put us on standby for the next flight leaving four hours later. We had already been traveling at this point for 26 hours. Not a lot of sleep happened during this period. So we opted to rent a car instead of waiting four hours to be told we wouldn’t be on the next plane either. We schlepped ourselves to the car rental place, paid a small fortune and rented the coolest car, don’t have any idea what it is but it is smoking hot.

The drive from Atlanta to Biloxi is supposed to take about six hours. However, our sleep depravation caused us to have to stop a lot and switch drivers. The one not driving would sleep like the dead the one driving started to drift off a bit. When we finally made it to Mississippi we were all awake and feeling quite a rush of excitement at entering our new home state. Mandy had to use the restroom and we could not find a single gas station open at 2 a.m. I did however know where the Wal-Mart is located and so we all took a potty break at the local Wal-Mart at 2 a.m. with our two kids. We of course hadn’t really slept in 33 hours, hadn’t showered or brushed our teeth, what they must think of us. We decided as long as we were there we might as well pick up a few things. $70 later we were back at the car. We decided as long as we are near our new home we can do a drive by. We pulled in the driveway and looked at our pretty new house, it was 2:30 am by now. Then we decided to drive past Mandy’s new school and finally we found our hotel. Lucky for us Jeff’s new boss went to the airport for us and picked up the animals and our luggage and dropped it off at our hotel for us. So at 3:30 a.m. we had arrived at our hotel and so had our pets. We fought for the rights for the first shower. I lost and had to take the dog for a walk.

By the time we had unpacked our suitcases enough to find some clothes and our soap and toothbrushes, and we had all showered and ate it was 5 am. Jeff and Mandy had to go to the airport because we were missing one bag, one of Mandy’s bags and the airport opened at 5. I got Lily cleaned up and I got the cat and dog bedding all cleaned up and the litter box all set up etc. By that time it was 6:30 and Jeff had to go into work to sign in and Mandy and Lily were watching TV and I laid my head on the pillow and rested for about an hour. This was now about 40 hours into our trip. We then had to get going to our final inspection of the house and then to the closing.

After we closed on the house it was around 11 and getting pretty close to the 48 hour mark in our journey. Of course I had rested my eyes for an hour or a moment here and there but not really all that much. At least I had showered. Anyways we decided to try and register Mandy for school. Next week is their spring break and today is the last day they would allow us to register before the break. I thought it might be nice for Mandy to have her school book over the break so she could figure out what is what. They gave me a huge packed of paper work to fill out and it was so difficult to get my brain to function well enough to remember Mandy’s name, age birth date etc. I was hilarious, what a spectacle to see me at almost 48 hours try to concentrate enough to register Mandy for school. They gave us a list of items we needed to get like a health certification of her shot records from the health department. She gave me directions to the health department and it made sense at the time however, that was before all the paperwork and when I arrived at the car I had a hard time remembering the directions. Then when we finally found the health department they wanted three phone numbers of people who could verify our identities. I am sure you know at least three phone numbers but I know zero phone numbers off the top of my head. How often do I call people in America? I could give you 100 email addresses off the top of my head but no phone numbers. It was a half an hours drive back to the hotel to get the numbers. So we worked very hard and “remembered” 3 phone numbers. Then we looked at the list and they needed some other documents that required us to actually and really drive all the way back to the hotel and then back to the school. Half an hour each direction. We had to do it right away or they wouldn’t allow her to register for two weeks because of spring break and something else I really can’t remember it all. Brain was fried. I somehow convinced Jeff who doesn’t really know his way around yet to go back to the school and Lily and I stayed here and went to bed. Of course I had to walk the dog, feed the Lily, and update my blog first priorities people.

Jeff and Mandy came home and we all slept like the dead for 8 solid hours. We were then hungry so we went back to Walmart this time at about 11pm, with our three year old. Took the dog for a walk, ate and no one would let me on my new lap top computer which I begged and pleaded to buy. My early birthday and early Christmas present. I had to wait until they all went back to bed to get a chance to play.

So, now I am back to bed it is almost 2 am, I am going to sleep until 7 and tomorrow we are going to rescue our car which has been in storage for four years.

Too Small

My Lily has grown from a size 4T to a size 6x over the last month or so. She is very attached to her clothes and now she doesn't fit into any of them anymore. At first I tried the direct and honest approach. I told her that she grew and that her clothes no longer fit her and she needed to wear her new clothes. She threw a two day long fit. Now I sneak the too small clothes out when she isn't looking. She thinks they are in the wash...

A Date

Jeff and I recently went on a date to celebrate the end of our diet and he wanted to thank me for all my hard work helping him to lose 10 lbs in two weeks. He got his waist down to 32 1/2, and all told he scored an excellent on his fitness test.

I got to pick the restaurant and I picked a little hole in the wall in the downtown area. I had my very first Po'Boy sandwich, fried catfish no less. It was very good and reasonably priced. We then took a little walk down to the beach through the downtown. It is so much more fun to walk than to drive, we saw so many more details. We got ate alive by the gnats too. I never knew gnats bit until I moved here, they are the scourge of the earth. Lily and I spend a great deal of time outside and we both have a great deal of bites to prove it.

After our walk we went to a smoothie place. Jeff and I make our own smoothies all the time but I have never had a commercially prepared smoothie. I think the smoothie craze must have started while we were out of the country. Can I just say wow. I had pineapple and coconut, Jeff had strawberry. It was phenomenal. We then browsed the local Walmart trying to decide how we are going to decorate our front yard. I tend to kill everything I plant so I am looking for a non living type decoration. We are leaning toward a stone alligator. We were home from our date by 8PM.

While we may not seem like the most exciting people you have ever met in your life, I had a lot of fun. Notice that we took a long walk, we are trying to incorporate healthy living ideas into our non diet lives. I don't know if a fried catfish po'boy counts as healthy but it was good.

Easter Birthday Fun

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday in addition to being Easter. We incorporated the Easter and birthday activities into a day full of fun.

I woke up at around 5AM, so excited about all of the plans and work I had put into this day I could not go back to sleep. I got out of bed and made some coffee, Mandy was already in the shower as she had to be at work by 7AM. I hid the boiled eggs that Lily and I had dyed and covered in stickers the night before. Mandy came into the living room to check out her Easter Basket, she mumble her thanks and hid her spoils in her room.

I was certain that Lily would wake up as I was driving Mandy to work. I was worried I would miss her face as she saw her basket, miss her looking for and finding all the eggs. She did wake up while I was on the road, but Jeff kept her from the living room and the two of them patiently awaited my arrival before beginning the Easter morning fun.

Later I picked Mandy up from work and when we got home we had the present opening portion of Jeff's birthday party. Lily and I had baked him a cake and wrapped the presents together. Mandy had taken Jeff to see wrestling at the coliseum. Jeff enjoyed his presents, Lily was bad and had to take a nap. We had to sit and watch two DVDs about through hiking the Appalachian trail while we waited for dinner to cook. This is Jeff's favorite weekend pastime.

Next was the Easter dinner followed by the birthday cake, complete with candles and song. Jeff sometimes complains that all this hoopla about birthdays is weird but he seemed to enjoy his day.

Lily got her first Barbie doll for Easter. It was headless by the time she went to bed. This surprised me to no end because she has never before broken a toy, and baby dolls and stuffed animals are some of her favorite things. She loves her babies and takes them with her everywhere. The Barbie is the one with butterfly wings. She sees the commercial all the time and Tuesday at the playgroup she dresses up with the butterfly wings. I thought she would just love this Barbie, but she bashed its head on the side of the table until the head popped off. No more Barbie's for that child.

I know I talk about what a rough and stubborn and willful little four year old Lily is quite often. But, she is usually very sweet to her babies. She loves them and takes care of them. They come with her everywhere and she is always making sure they are dressed and have a toy to play with. I have never seen her just purposely destroy a toy before especially a doll. It was weird. Maybe she was a feminist in a previous life? Our latest attempt at behavior modification is going well. She is getting better at not hitting me when she is upset, not completely resolved but more of a once in a blue moon thing than a once an hour thing that it was.

Natchez, Mississippi

We finally took our trip to see the mansions in Natchez which were built before the civil war. My understanding is that most of the southern mansions built before the civil war were destroyed during the war and seeing older homes is rare and special. I enjoyed spending the day with my family and the opportunity to see Natchez was lovely, but I don't think I would make the trip again.

There are many houses open, and available for touring. We saw three, it cost us about $75. I thought that was a little pricey. The first one was in poor repair, I am thinking if you are charging me to see your home a fresh coat of paint is not too much to ask. The second house was in perfect condition but run by very stern tour guides who insisted that you listen to hours of commentary and only look at the rooms in the order you are told and after listening to a detailed description of every single piece of furniture, what wood it is made of, who made it, etc. It got old. Jeff and Lily about lost their minds and we had to leave about a third of the way through the tour. The final house was both lovely and the tour was less annoying, we made it through about half before Jeff and Lily lost their minds.

We also saw a bit of the Natchez Trace. I took more than 80 photos, I will share a few of my favorites.

An Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back
. May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

You can find me at the mall

It turns out that Lily and I did not have colds, because colds don't go away in a day, right? I think it must have been allergies. The pollen in so thick here you can cut it with a knife. We have been spending a lot of time outside too. A little clariton and our sore throats went away. The gnats here are so thick. Just walking from the house to the care causes us to get bit all over our faces, ankles and hands. I tried to clear off and sweep up our back porch yesterday and plant some grass seed in the bare patches, those little gnats were swarming my face and arms. It is so incredibly beautiful and the weather is amazing, but those bugs make me want to hide away and never leave the house.

I lost two pounds this week, but this morning I had gained them back. I was disappointed I was hoping to lose more during this two week diet, tomorrow is Jeff's PT test and today is the last day of our diet. It will be nice on our pocket book to take a break from dieting. I am thinking of continuing the struggle but with less absolute restrictions. To celebrate our two weeks of dieting we are planning on going out to dinner in down town Biloxi and walking along the beach afterwards. Hopefully we wont glut and the prices wont kill us, and the gnats will leave us alone as well.

Mandy is on break this week. I have things planned everyday for Lily and her playgroups and also things with Mandy. We are so busy. I am looking forward to spending time with Mandy. She is so busy we hardly ever see her. If we can find her a prom dress we are planning a trip to an aquarium if not we will be spending all our extra time at malls.

Spring Break

Lily and I have come down with sore throats. We are hoping to kick it by resting today. Let us hope the nutritious full of antioxidants works. We have so much planned next week. Mandy is on Spring Break, our play groups and the base have all kinds of Easter Egg hunts, and Jeff is taking a day off for us to take a little day trip to Natchez. It would not be fun to be sick for all that.

Speaking of Spring Break more than 300 students from around the country are choosing to come here for Spring break, to build houses for Katrina victims. Instead of going to Florida, or laying around the house, they are building homes. Wow, that really touches my heart. Restores my faith in the world.

Busy, Busy Me

I am finding that a nasty side effect to eating healthy foods is that I have a ton of happiness and energy. I don't seem to have time for sitting on the computer and blogging. Even yesterday on the way to the grocery store after voting when it started to pour down rain, instead of going home, we splashed our way through the puddles and enjoyed having the entire grocery store to ourselves. That is really not at all my personality.

Today as I arrived home after driving Mandy to work, the Domino's pizza delivery truck was driving past my house. I almost threw myself on the ground in front of his truck. I think I would prefer to feel bad, play on the computer all day, and eat really delicious food. I have no will power. Tonight we are having beef Don Buri, a Japanese stir fry with thinly sliced beef, onion, garlic, ginger, in a sweetened soy sauce and saki sauce. One of my all time favorite foods, it is great with tofu subbed for the beef as well, anyways, we are having it with BROWN RICE!

Lily has been working on gaining enough stars to buy a set of Diego Blocks. They have been sitting on top of the refrigerator forever. Every time we go out, if she is nice she gets a star when we get home. The blocks cost 20 stars. It took her about six months but today was the day she finally got her blocks. She is so happy. Earlier in the week she was grounded from the TV FOREVER, I was so mad. At least now she has a new toy to play with in our very quiet house. Maybe that is what is keeping me from my computer, no TV to entertain the little one while I type.

Mandy has decided to start dating a specific boy. Everyone say a prayer. They call it going out, we called it going together when I was growing up. We are going prom dress shopping next week during her spring break. I am also taking the entire family to Natchez, Mississippi to see pre-civil war era mansions in exchange for going to Disney World. I am very excited, this little town, which I had never heard of before is rich in the history of this area. Can't wait to learn all about it and then share it all with y'all. Oh, and I will get to see the Mississippi river. Luckily by then I will be off this stinkin' diet.

March and April seem to be the busiest months of my life. I guess we now know people, because we seem to have plans for almost everyday for the next two months. Lily's playgroups, Jeff's volunteer groups, it never seems to end. My white board calendar is positively full. Yeah!

My Day Off

I saw Bill Clinton speak at Biloxi High School on Saturday. The event was not well publicized and if I hadn't read the paper from cover to cover that morning I would have missed that he came to town entirely.

Saturday is my day off, my husband takes care of the girls and the house, the errands, the cooking, the dishes, etc. I have nearly every Saturday to myself to spend as I wish. I usually cannot come up with a thing to do. Mostly because, while I have the time I do not have the money, to shop or eat out, to get my nails done or a massage. This particular Saturday I had planned to spend the day shopping with Mandy's money for clothes for Mandy. You would not believe how hard it is to find a pair of pants that will fit a tall skinny girl. Especially when said girl does not like to show her butt crack. I read about President Clinton being in town and I looked at the clocked and thought if I get in the shower right now I can just make it.

I showered and took off, Biloxi high school is about a 1/2 hour away. I had grabbed a granola bar and some dried apricots due to the dumb diet we are on. I lost 2 lbs this week. Jeff lost 6. We have one week and one day to go. I am really hating the cooking every single meal from scratch and all the shopping and dishes, and frankly all the chewing. I don't like fruits or veggies, I despise whole grains and all the chewing of all the vast quantities of food one must endure in order to eat properly is giving me a major headache. I much prefer to eat one really big calorie laden meal per day, full of starches, sugars, and butter. I feel like I am spending all day everyday thinking about, preparing, or cleaning up after preparing food, food, food. This must seem like a major tangent, but bear with me.

I stood in line to get into the high school gym. I decided to be on the floor right in front of the stage. Bill was very late, more than an hour. The gym was very hot. I chatted with people for that hour and a half or more that I waited. Met a lot of interesting people. My people, I am shocked and awed that there are other Hillary Clinton supporters in Mississippi. Although I must tell you that there weren't a lot of us. Was this because of the poor publicity? Was it because there aren't a lot of democrats? I just don't know. The news that night spend 4 minutes talking about people who support Obama, and less than one minute on Bill's actual visit to our area. Obama didn't come, not his wife either. He has got commercials airing in every commercial break on every station.

One lady who was near me was a talker. She dominated every conversation for the entire time we stood there waiting for President Clinton. She would ask people questions and then interrupt with her own stories. Turns out she is from New York, damn Yankees go home. (just kidding, I suppose I am a damn Yankee myself). It was just so annoying.

Finally the former president arrived. My very first time being eligible to vote in a presidential election I voted for Bill. That was in Elk Grove, California. I voted for him a second time while living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Now I am voting for Hillary from Mississippi. I get around. Hillary came to Mississippi, she was in Hattiesburg among other places, but I was too lazy to drive that far to see her, that early in the morning. Even Chelsea, came and spoke at college campuses.

Bill's speech was wonderful. He was introduced by Keyshawn Johnson, who said you can walk like a president, talk like a president, look like a president, but we need someone who can BE a great president. Bill talked about all the reasons to vote for Hillary and did not even mention Obama, it was a positive uplifting speech. About half was through it I got dizzy, sweaty the room began to spin and I had to go and sit down in the bleachers. Must have been from not eating enough. Dieting sucks.

After the speech I had time to get gas, buy Mandy some pants, and get home in time to drive Mandy to work. Jeff took Mandy to see a Playhouse Disney show. It was a pretty good day off.

Thursday Playgroup

I have been going to the library story time for about six months. It is every Thursday. It is free. It is fantastic and there are a lot of other children Lily's age. The teacher reads a story, and does games, and then we go outside and play at the playground.

It took Lily a long time to get the routine and to be able to behave during this story time. Now she is a pro.

But, today the other moms actually talked to me. They were really nice too. I guess it takes six months of seeing a person every week before they become one of you. Don't get me wrong there have been hellos and goodbyes. There have been nice weather we are having etc. But, an actual conversation, I have never really been included. 90% of that is probably due to my not having the opportunity to chat due to Lily's need for constant course correction. Today I was able to just sit over by the other moms and let her play. Yeah Lily and yeah to the other moms. Bonus points that they are all my age as well. Usually moms of 4 year olds are about 10 years younger than me. Maybe in another six months or so I might get a phone number. This is worse than dating.

On another note, I am hoping to go and see Bill or Hillary Clinton speak tomorrow. The paper says it will be Bill, and Hillary's website says it will be Hillary. Not sure who will be there, but I am excited either way. Shhh, don't tell the moms at the playground, then I will probably never have another conversation again. Maybe someday I will make a friend at the Tuesday playgroup too.

Giving Blood

Yesterday, Mandy gave blood for the first time. She did it at school and was able to get some free junk food and get out of second period. After giving blood, she started to feel poorly. It got worse after lunch. Finally she called her work and told them that due to the fact that she gave blood and was feeling woozy, dizzy, nauseas...she wouldn't be able to work. They told her to get a dr.'s note. This really upsets me.

It is rather difficult to get a dr.'s note at one in the afternoon. It is also a waste of a dr.'s time for us to come in for a note when Mandy is not in need of medical assistance. Luckily we have free health care and luckily Jeff works at the hospital. Otherwise we would have to go to an emergency care place and wait for hours to see a dr and get a note. Paying a lot more out of our pocket than Mandy would earn in a day of work. I cannot believe that they do this to minimum wage employees. They certainly aren't paying Mandy health care.

I wonder if they do this to all their employees? Is it some sort of don't call in sick or we will fire you policy? Mandy doesn't get paid for her sick time. They are just short that night or have to call someone in. I wonder if the store manager knows this is happening or if the Winn Dixie corporate offices know about this or if it is something they all do to intimidate the employees. I wonder if this is only something they do to teens?

The momma bear in me wants to go down there and give these people a piece of my mind. I don't think that would be helpful for Mandy and her job. Maybe I should encourage her to find something else. I guess I should let it go, chalk it up to a learning experience. Teaching Mandy that working for $7 an hour in retail is not a way a person can earn a living in our country today. I feel so bad for the people working there that do so full time and depend on this job to pay rent.

Hopefully Mandy was able to save a life today. I did make her a dr.'s appointment for later int he week to test for anemia, since it runs in the family and donating blood was so hard on her. Glad I have medical insurance.

The Diet

Jeff's PT test is coming up in about two and a half weeks. He has been trying to lose about 10 lbs for months and months. The same three pounds keep coming and going. For those of you not familiar with the military he has to take a physical training test annually to ascertain whether or not he is "fit to fight". The test includes running, sit-ups, push-ups, measuring the waist, etc. Each component of the test has points and you have to have a certain number of points to stay in the military (you get more than one chance). Each branch of the service has different standards and different tests, Jeff is Air Force. Anyways, he is in great physical shape. He did a marathon this past year, etc. But, keeping the waist within regulation is difficult for Jeff. Usually he is able to drop 10 lbs very easily and very quickly but this year he has struggled for months with no results.

He was about to give up. While he would pass his test with a good score, he is on a quest for an excellent score. I offered to help him out with the losing of those 10 lbs, even though we are only two and a half weeks before the test. While I have not been able to lose weight effectively myself, I feel that all the books I have read on the subject make me a bit of an expert. I devised a plan for him, and me while I was doing all this work. I am making all his meals. Counting all his calories, hoping he will be able to lose those pesky 10 lbs. He thinks that now that he is 33 he is too old to lose weight. I am 38 and a female so I was a bit upset by this declaration.

Yesterday, was the first day of the diet. I made all his meals. Packed them up in a bag. He forgot to bring it with him to work in the morning. He called, I drove it to him. It took me an hour to get there due to traffic and a half and hour to get home. He ate his breakfast and then went out to lunch due to an office function. He had a big slice of ham and tons of buttery corn, a big bowl of fruit and a salad. He did not know that a plate sized piece of ham was not such a good idea. Or so he says. He forgot to eat his snack and did not drink his water. He gained 3/10's of a pound.

I followed the diet and lost 1/10th of a pound. I forgot to exercise. We shall see how today goes. I wonder if he will eat the actual food I packed for him. I found a website that is free and figures out calories, Calorie Count.com. Basically we are avoiding simple sugars, eating fruits, veggies, whole grains, meat, dairy... trying to keep our calories down and to only eat foods that are fuel. It is only two and a half weeks so it is easier to wrap my mind around than if it was for six months. I'll let you know how we do. I am hoping to beat Jeff. Wish me luck.

Grandma Dorothy

During our last move the boxes carrying all our loose pictures was destroyed. The movers were able to save the pictures but they are no longer separated into separate little boxes and envelopes. Instead every loose picture we own is in an enormous pile in a giant box. I should probably organize this mess...

I wanted to find a picture of my grandma and I knew the picture was in this box. I had to sort through thousands of pictures one at a time to find the exact picture I was looking for. It was a little surreal to look at a picture of me as a kid, then one of Mandy as a baby, Lily as a baby, Jeff as a kid; in no particular order. I eventually found the photo. It was a picture of my grandma, my mom, me, and Mandy. The photo was taken shortly after grandma and my dad had gone sky diving. Grandma was around 70 I believe and decided that she wanted to go sky diving for her birthday. My dad and grandma tried to talk me into doing it too. They thought if they had three generations jumping out of the plane all at once we might get a mention in the paper. I declined.

My grandma was a lot of fun. I say was because she passed away on Friday. It really hasn't hit me yet. I spent the weekend being extra nice to my girls and husband. Grandma was incredibly nice to me my entire life. I used to spend time with her at her house, just the two of us, and we would crochet, sew, knit, garden, cook. It was fun and peaceful. I wish that life hadn't taken me so far away and the I had gotten to know her better as an adult. Instead of just as Grandma.