The Only Rule For Eyebrows

For years I have agonized over my eyebrows. I know, vanity, thy name is me. Eyebrows are a totally odd part of the human being, why should I worry so much about them?

Well, to be quite honest, I have very masculine eyebrows.

And I decided a few years ago to embrace them. I am not willing to have them tweezed down to feminine, archful lines. I'm going to let them be with only slight changes, such as keeping them off my eyelids and forehead.

Today my son so kindly left lying around the new Esquire and I read all about The Meticulous Man's Guide To Eyebrow Care and I thought, holy cow! That's all I need.

I learned the only rule for eyebrows: they shouldn't touch in the middle.

I'm so on board with that.

So Of Course, That's How It Goes

I have a few quirks, little things I do that make me feel better. I never leave my pajamas on the floor because a spider might crawl in them. I always shake my towel out before drying off in case a moth is in it. I usually don't get in the shower until I've looked for spiders, because in the spider jet set, the tub is the place to be.

Yesterday, as I looked and didn't see a spider for like the millionth day in a row, I kind of wondered if I really needed to look, to give the shower curtain a shake, check up high in the corners. I mean, come on. I haven't seen a spider in the shower in ages.

So of course, this morning I don't check.

And as I'm soaping up my hair, I see something dark against the white of the tub. Being without my glasses means I have to get closer to see what it is.

Oh yes. It is a pretty freaking huge spider. In the tub with me. Way too close to my shoeless feet.

I killed it with the conditioner bottle, then washed it down the drain. I'm not a spider killing machine. I've felt pretty guilty about it in the recent years and try to let spiders alone as long as they leave me alone.

But all rules are off if a spider decides it's shower time at the same time as me.

Record Breaking Motivation

I love my Wii Fit. I know I've said it before, but I will say it again. I love it. It got me through the winter when it was too cold and wet and dark and kind of creepy to be out walking by myself.

The first few days after it came, the whole family played on it. But then for the last 190 days I have been the only person using it.

The only person setting records, getting the top scores.

Suddenly, my kids have taken a liking to my Wii and my records are being broken.

Oh. No. They. Didn't.

Turns out, I've got a bit of competitiveness in me that I have not acknowledge before today. That is my Wii, that is my high score, and gosh darn it, I'll just have to work harder.

But, did my son say he just unlocked the 90 second plank?

Hmm.

Okay. Some things they can keep the top score on. I barely make it through 30 seconds of the plank position!

Fourteen Years Ago Today.....

Fourteen years ago today, four weeks early, our baby girl was born. I was telling everyone I wanted a boy, but that was just to hedge my bets with fate. I thought the baby was a girl, but if I was wrong, I wanted it out there for the universe to know that a boy was good too.

My doctor told me that he thought we'd see a baby at 2:00 PM. At 2:01 PM, our daughter made her entrance into the world......with a cap of dark hair, huge dark eyes, perfect except for a white waxy coating all over her due to being early and slightly purple hue due to the cord around her neck.

She had a big brother who loved her, but being less than 2, and us having only referred to her as "baby", called her Baby as her name. She had a Daddy who was so immensely proud to have a daughter and was marvelling at her accomplishments when all she could do was look around and blink. She had a Mommy who quickly realized she was the most perfect, in every way perfectly perfect, baby in the whole world.

Fourteen years later, big brother still loves her and hasn't called her Baby in 13 years and 11 months. Dad is even more proud and brags about all her accomplishments to anyone who holds still for a second. And Mom has quickly realized she has the most perfect, in every way perfectly perfect, 14 year old in the whole world.

Happy Birthday, L! You've made our life better in every way.

To Get Through Sad Times....

To get through sad times, all I really need are God and my Mom's biscuits. A little homemade strawberry jam couldn't hurt either.

Last night, as my husband and I were driving into town from our date, the main road in was closed, but my husband, being the former cop that he is, said that's not road closure for construction. That's a closure due to an accident. The detour we took had us driving a cornfield away from the road we wanted and sure enough, we could see flashing lights in the dark. Lots of them.

Looks like a fatality, my former policeman hubby said.

He was right.

But what we didn't know then, and found out this morning when my husband got up at 5am to get ready for work and read an email from Pastor, was the person who died was someone we know.

Shocked doesn't even cover how we feel. There's a whole mess of sadness, tears, disbelief, and bewilderment mixing around in my heart.

I was undecided on going to church this morning. But as I sat in my living room, sipping coffee and wiping away tears and praying for my friend whose husband has unexpectedly passed, I knew I needed the comfort that church provides. I've tried to explain it to my husband, but he did not grow up in church, and doesn't understand the feeling of 'home' and 'just right' I get when I sit down in a pew and listen to the voice of Pastor or when we start singing songs of praise. This morning, I knew I needed to sing some songs and be reminded that God holds us all in his hand, even during the hard times we think we can't get through.

After church, I left feeling better. Then my Mom texted me, "fresh biscuits and strawberry jam" and I texted back, "I'll be there in a few."

Church gave me one kind of comfort, sitting at my Mom's table eating the best biscuits in the world and licking jam off my fingers gave me another. And that is how I am getting through a sad time today....

The Art Of Procrastination

There is an art to procrastination. It takes talent and gumption and skill.

First, I make a do-able list of the things I want to get done. On a lazy day off of work, I make the list not so terrible, like iron the 17 shirts, 2 skirts, and 1 pair of shorts that have taken up residence on my desk. I can iron and watch TV. Not too bad for a lazy day off work.

I can also throw some laundry in the wash. Folding the dry clothes can be done between breaks of book reading.

I throw in some fun errands like picking up books at the library, and go buy some peaches and cherries and yogurt and toilet paper at the grocery store.

All mixed in with that list of things to do is the idea that I will work on my scrap booking. I've got a plan, a will and a way.

So......of course, instead, I have to decide this morning is the morning the dogs and I will walk a long, long, long walk and eat up a an hour of our morning. I have to search craigslist for things I don't need but as soon as I see them, I desperately want them. Then I have to write some blog posts. Then I have to wander around picking up stray scraps of paper and sorting them into piles.

The next thing I know, it's four hours since I got up and all I can show for it is three worn out dogs, 4 piles of paper, and the clothes to iron has changed its location from the desk to the couch.

Artfully done, once again!

The Bummer Of Rain And Convertables

I have a little red car that I love to put the top down and zip around in when the weather is warm. Or just not raining.

The bummer of it is that I forget to put the top back up. Constantly. And it is for certain that if I leave the top down, it will rain.

I am speaking from experience.

I woke up last night, woke my husband up, and asked if it would rain today because I just remembered I left the top down on the car. He said nope, no rain. Don't worry.

I went back to sleep and low and behold, today it is raining.

Rain in the summer is a huge bummer. All I want to do is leave the top down and have it ready for me to jump in and go....

Worse now, the insides of the car are damp and it will need to dry out before I want to get back in.

Sunshine, sunshine, where for art thou sunshine?

I could use some help in the drying out department. I'll just put the top down and let you do the rest.