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Friday, June 26, 2009

7 Quick Takes Friday, #20



1. You know it's summer when the A/C doesn't kick off until 3 AM, and then comes back on at 8 AM, coughing and dragging it's heels from all the hard work it's been doing. I almost feel sorry for the poor unit, but then I step outside and sink chest deep into a thick soup of HOT before scurrying back into the blessedly cool house, preparing a pep talk so that the air conditioner will never doubt it's important place in our lives. I love you, A/C.


2. Having seen several recommendations lately for The Mitford Series, I checked out the first book at the library this week. I don't even know what it's about or if its style will suit my own, but it's on a lot of folks' favorite books list so I thought I'd give it a shot. Here's hoping I enjoy it as much as some others have. Have you read it?


3. On a related note: What's your favorite book?


4. When I was growing up, I always wondered why my mom never really bought herself many new outfits. Occasionally, she'd get something small for herself, but it seemed she had clothes in her closet that were older than I was. As a teenager, I shopped weekly, spending my paycheck on worthless items and wearing something only a few times before it got boring. This went on throughout college, and into my first years as a wife.

Then I had babies. Any free time or money was spent on my daughters. I was never good at leaving my baby with a sitter for even a small amount of time to go do something for myself. (I'm still not - I know all the parenting experts tell you how important it is to make time to get away, but it's just not the way I work. Maybe a few babies down the line I'll relax a bit...) Shopping just fell by the wayside. My clothes are getting to be old and well-worn. So? I went to the mall this week with Lauren in tow - specifically to get something for myself. Every time I do this, I feel some small bit of guilt over purchasing something mostly unnecessary. Why is that? Am I not worthwhile enough to get a pair of decent shorts to wear in this oppressive heat? Is a cute sundress too extravagant for a stay at home mom with nowhere more important to go than the grocery store?

This time though, the guilt stayed at bay. Maybe I'm gaining confidence in my worth as a non-earner. Maybe the sale was good enough. Whatever. I got some shorts and a dress, and I'm happy about it.


5. Mia's been going to VBS every night this week, and it's worn me out. No, I'm not helping with it or anything; I'm staying home to put the baby -ach, I mean toddler- to bed which includes a nursing session (a highly mom-oriented task). But it's worn me out with BEDTIME WORRY. I am so not comfortable with a week of bedtimes that are 90 minutes later than usual. As expected, Mia's exhausted, but I think it's been worth it. She's having a ball. She even has a line in a skit for the program tonight. I'll take Lauren with me and make her exhausted too because there's no way I'm missing my 3 year old's first performance. (Hmm...I see a casual dress-wearing occasion after all...)


6. So if you feel a slight tremor in the earth at around 7:09 PM central time tonight, don't worry. It's just my heart breaking from witnessing my beautiful baby girl grow up so fast.

Also, the aftershocks you will feel at about 8:12 PM will be from me nervously thumping my leg, worrying that Lauren will have a horrible night's sleep and a terribly early morning wake up due to her phenomenally late bed time. (Horrible, terrible, phenomenal. Yikesal.)

I apologize in advance.


7. This attached itself to my home earlier this week.



I almost fainted because I was sure it was a tiny bat. It was, after all, hanging upside down. Or do bats only do that in scary cartoons? (I was always terrified of Scooby-Doo growing up. So, yes - cartoons are scary.) Then I got to looking at it's camo wings. Pretty neat. From a comfortable, camera-zoomable distance.

I started feeling imaginary things crawling on me while I took this picture, so we're just lucky the camera isn't in pieces from being smashed on our driveway by a bug underappreciater named Moi.



Have a wonderful weekend! Stay cool by sweet talking your air conditioner and checking out more Quick Takes.

18 comments:

  1. My mom was the same way with her clothes when I was growing up. If she bought anything, like a sweater, it was A Big Deal.

    And now I'm the same way. I work outside the home in the financial industry, so I have to maintain a certain "look." And that means making sure my clothes are in tip-top shape. I know I need the clothes, but it's so hard for me to justify any kind of spending on myself! What's helped is that I have clothing built into the family budget. We have the money, it's there, and I can use it or lose it.

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  2. Oh, I hear you on the clothes front. It is just so much more fun to shop for Lily than for me though...I can't help myself!

    I've never read the Mitford series but my mom loves it -- I'll be interested to hear what you think! I love reading pretty much everything so I can't pick a favorite book but anything by Beverly Lewis (she writes a lot about Amish people) or Terri Blackstock (mysteries) are good reads for me. Right now I'm reading The Negotiater by Dee Henderson.

    Oh yes, and blogs. I like reading blogs ;)

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  3. I love my air conditioner too. A year ago, our brand new air conditioner was STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. This took the a/c company A MONTH to figure out. In the meantime, they said they were busy looking for very rare replacement parts. Did I mention my husband was away the entire time for a military thing and that my youngest was a newborn at the time? ...Fun fun!

    And my favorite book(s) -hands down- at the Chronicles of Narnia. They're magical and make me think of God in a completely different way than I normally do. On a more adult level, I really enjoy Orson Scott Card's series based off his character, Bean.

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  4. Late bedtimes do mean early risings and grumpy babies! Why is that?? But it will be worth it to see that first performance. Take lots of pictures and video and have lots of coffee on hand for tomorrow morning!

    I love the camouflage bug. My son would have a field day with that!

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  5. On #4- yay for you! I have recently been debating over taking myself shopping-just for a shirt or two as I haven't much that fits me these days. You have inspired me, maybe I will go this after noon ha ha.
    The bug...I thought for sure it was a Green marvel moth (compliments of the June issue of Missouri Conservationist) but on closer inspection, it looks way cooler! So, I have no idea what it is, nice find!

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  6. On #3, what a great topic! Too many to list. A few that come to mind though include To Kill A Mockingbird, Archbishop Fulton Sheen's autobiography- Treasure in Clay (great, great read!), Mere Christianity, The Kite Runner, and The Chronicles of Narnia. To name a few. :)

    Amen to the bedtime issues! I am a complete crazy when it comes to sleep times and routines, and I think my parents think I am crazy. :) But it is crazy how a simple change will completely make or break our day/week!

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  7. Megan - I love that you have clothing worked into your budget. I'll have to petition the hubs for that...working on my case now...

    Amy - Yes, blogs. My novel reading keeps getting more and more cramped with all the fun I'm having online. Novels, after all, are not interacive. :)

    Lenae - A month with no A/C would see me naked in a bathtub full of ice cubes. Miserable. You are a brave soul.

    Beth - I knew there were some boys out there who would appreciate that bug :) I'm just hoping my daughter never asks me to catch something like that. She seems happy enough with a picture, glory be.

    Katie - We should shop together!

    Mrs. Bubbles - Can we be friends?! I think everyone around me (with the exception of the wonderful Katie above) thinks sleep routines are worthless! And that I am anal for wanting them. At least that is my interpretation of their withering looks when I have to leave early to get the baby to bed on time. But, hey - I'm the mom. I rule.

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  8. I loved the Mitford series. I've recently thought about rereading them. But there's so many good books out there to read that I don't know. Good for you for going shopping for yourself! You deserve it!

    BTW, I popped over from Beth @ A Mom's Life. It was nice to "meet" you. Love your writing style. Hope you enjoy the show tonight!

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  9. I do the same thing when it comes to buying stuff for myself....if I do it, I always have buyer's remorse.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! =)

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  10. My favourite book - hmm...there are many, but I'd have to say the Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, and Piercing the Darkness and This Present Darkness, both by Frank Perretti.

    Shelley
    Confirm the Work of Our Hands

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  11. Ack! I have no idea what to say on the "favorite book" question. I have waaaaaay too many. I suppose the easiest answer would be Gone with the Wind. I read it when I was 11 or 12 and fell in love with it.

    I hope my A/C knows how much I love it. My car's climate control is not working at all any more, so I fully appreciate it when I walk into a building that's been kept around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Ahhhhhhh...

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  12. I am soooo with you on #4. I just bought a bunch of stuff for myself and it seems selfish, but man has it changed my whole outlook!

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  13. Favorite book/Lifesaving book: Parenting with Love & Logic

    I hear you on the mommy clothes. I decided to go out and buy myself 3 shirts that I can actually wear in public and tried hard not to feel guilt, but it just happens as a mom. However, once I began wearing the 3 shirts over and over and over again I wondered why I hadn’t done it sooner.

    I hear you on bedtime! I can be quite neurotic about defending bedtimes. Due to a self-induced crazy schedule this week, it wasn't on top of our priority list and I was once again reminded why I defend sleep times with all my might. Have you ever read, “Happy Child, Healthy Sleep Habits?” If not, great info. Warning: It may increase your bedtime worries.

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  14. Alicia - thanks for stopping by, I love new visitors! Especially when they leave such nice compliments as you! Thank you!

    Emily - I LOVE Gone With The Wind. And I love that it takes me forever to finish. The bigger the book, the better. Usually.

    Mommymonkey - Happy, Healthy is the reason I am the way I am today! Very alarmist, to be sure, but it was exactly the reassurance I needed to help me defend my sleep positions. I needed something to tell me it was OK for me to be vigilant with sleep times because I went crazy trying to live otherwise. I do love that book. Thankfully, I haven't had to read it as much with my second child as I did with my first. Either because I'm more confident in my own decisions, or because I just memorized the dang thing on the first go-round. :D

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  15. Thanks for your nice comment, so nice that I wandered over here to say hi!

    My feeling about new clothes? "If mamma ain't happy, NO ONE's happy." Sometimes a cute sundress is all you need. I, however, have taken into breaking out in hives anytime I see my post-baby body in a 3-way mirror --(mind you the "baby" is 10). That has slowed my spending considerably!

    And 2 books I might suggest that are educational as well as hysterical are AJ Jacob's A Year of Living Biblically and Know it All.

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  16. I was the same way with clothes, too. Then, my teenage daughter taught me a lesson. She wore some of my clothes for her high school "tacky tourist day" -- and won! These were my current clothes! Unfortunately, I did not learn the lesson. My clothes would still win her tacky tourist day contest! I have always had this tendency to buy only a few outfits, wear them until they fell apart, and then become frustrated with them for wearing out!

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  17. I can't wait to see what you think of the Mitford books. I love them, perhaps just the simplicity of small town life. Although, as a pastor myself, I am intimidated by how thoroughly Father Tim does him job. I'll use my babies as an excuse to not do so well! :) My "can't put down" reads are Jodi Piccoult books...love her! Did I loan you one? If so, what did you think?

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  18. I've never heard of the Mitford books, but I'd love to read you think of them once you get started. I've been a very boring reader lately and can't even remember what my favorites are. Lately it's been books on childbirth, but I also love non-fiction (biographies, political commentaries, etc.).

    And I'm with you on the A/C. LOVE mine too! Last summer it went out because an ANT got into it and died somewhere along the electrical wiring. I never thought I could be so angry at an ant!

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Hmm...And how did that make you FEEL?