The Stay Sane Part

If you've read my bio in the left-hand column, this post is connected to the "stay sane" part. More specifically, my not doing such a good job of staying sane.

Today Janson started a four-week rotation in Milwaukee. Luckily he can stay here and make the 40 minute commute everyday. I have avoided thinking about the months he will be living out-of-state. It was a 16-hour work day for him today, and it looks like he has four-more weeks of that schedule. Most likely several more months of that schedule, give or take a few hours. I feel for him being gone so much and spending those hours being physically and mentally exhausted. I have been spoiled because he only worked three days out of the last two weeks. Today reality set in, and I did okay until 8:15pm when both girls had reached their limit, along with their mother. Somehow we made it through the first three years of podiatry school, but now the last and hardest stretch is beginning. If I look ahead even two weeks from now I am overwhelmed- I can only think about today and tomorrow. I think I will gain a deeper appreciation for the many single parents out there, along with the military moms.

As I spend more time at home and less with Janson or adults in general, this blog will become more valuable. So this post is basically a preamble for the posts to come. My goal is to watch for, or even deliberately produce, moments of laughter in my day... even for the simple reason of writing it down here for others to enjoy. Being a mother can be hilarious, and I'm glad I can stay home and experience the moments of laughter with my children.

Music Review: Sondre Lerche

Last night we watched Dan In Real Life, and it gave me just the laugh I needed. I haven't really gotten into The Office, but after watching Steve Carell in this movie I'll try some Office DVD's. The real gem we discovered from the movie was the soundtrack artist: Sondre Lerche, a band from Norway. From watching the bonus features I learned that he'd often play live during scenes while the camera was rolling, rather than just add the music layer. That had to be cool for the actors to be able to hear the music live while they were acting their part. We're hooked and bought the soundtrack and other songs off iTunes. Grace likes dancing to their upbeat stuff (along with Will Smith, Rascal Flatts and Raffi, quite the variety). For those who have seen the movie, the soundtrack also has "Ruthie Pigface Draper" on it. I haven't quite figured out what sort of moment will call for that song, but it makes me smile just to think I have it in my iTunes.

Falling Bridges

Some may call me a bridge burner. I don't think I deliberately burn bridges, I just let them fall apart. Within the last six months I have been getting reacquainted with friends from my past via Facebook, blogs and email. Before this, my idea of staying connected with high school friends was asking my friend Brooke, about everybody. After graduating from high school I was ready for a change, and my friends can attest to the fact that I didn't look back. Somehow I felt that I had to leave the past behind in order to move forward, and sometimes you do. As I have learned of my friends' accomplishments, moves, and growing families, I feel some regret. Not too much, because I love where I am in life and what I am doing. But the seven-year journey since high school could have been more fun had I stayed in touch with the people who remind me of easier days. With another move coming up next year, I see this as a second chance to prove I can keep up with my friendships. Here's to a future of more intact bridges.

Movie Review: Enchanted

Since I just did a negative movie review, I thought I'd write-up a quick positive one. We just watched the long-awaited Enchanted. Every time Grace has seen the preview on her other movies she gets excited. I meant to take her to the theater to see it, but then I had a baby or something. :) I thought she'd lose interest when the animated part ended, but she watched the entire movie with a look of awe. I don't know if it was the beautiful princess, Patrick Dempsey, or the talking chipmunk. We probably won't buy it, but it was the perfect afternoon entertainment for a little girl with the sniffles.

Movie Review: I Am Legend

This is belated for you theater-goers, but I just watched I Am Legend via my Blockbuster Online queue. This reveals how often I casually talk with theater-goers (aka the pre-parents, teens, or parents who actually get babysitters and go on dates), but I hadn't heard anything about this movie before viewing. Will Smith's work reminded me of Tom Hank's acting in Cast Away. Poor guy didn't have many actors to feed off of, besides the dog. I kept thinking in my head, "This is going to be a great movie... this is going to get great." And then it ended, before it ever got great. Or at least great enough for me. The plot was a crazy idea and I lost a bit of sleep afterwards, but I still feel unfinished. About recommending it to others, I'm undecided. I think you should still see it (if you're ok with vampire-type creatures), but be prepared for an abrupt ending. Oh, and don't watch it with your two year old in the room. That was not one of my smart decisions as a mother.

Gifts From My Daughters

Grace: a dance together around the living room to the Beatles

Mari: an 11-hour night of sleep and, more importantly, the beautiful smiles afterward

Answer Tips

Double-click on any word in my text. Come on, I dare you. It doesn't have to be a link. Did you do it? Did you see what happened? Well, hopefully a bubble popped up telling you the definition of the word you clicked on. Since I have a degree in English I have to say I get a bit excited about words. I'm not saying that I use such big words on my site that you will need to look them up. But I do read other people's blogs who could use this, because their vocabulary is above and beyond my own. Just wanted to let you all know (whoever "you all" is... I don't really know) about this new feature I added to my blog.