new name, same great product

I've had this blog for 11 years. I had no reasoning or story behind the name and assumed I would change it in a few months when I thought of a better one. It is now 136 months later and I'm finally changing it. 

I tried for months to come up with a good name. Wish I was First Lady and Stop Asking What's for Supper did not get good reviews when I ran them past my opinion commity. I settled on this name because I do always try to look on the bright side of life. It can be hard to find the bright side some situations. For example, there is absolutely no bright side to that fact that this morning a frog jumped from somewhere in my car and landed on the door next to me. I'm shocked I didn't cause an accident. I rolled down the window and slapped the frog out with a cd case, gagging the entire time. Christopher is always saying cds are out of style and useless but in this case, a cd literally saved our lives. I didn't open my mouth for the entire rest of the drive because I was too worried there was an entire frog family hiding in my car and one would jump on my face. The car is now up for sale if anyone wants to take it off my hands.

All that to say, the good times, bad times, and traumatizing frog encounter times will all continue over here. 

Little Cabin In the Woods

 We recently went to north Georgia for a long weekend.

During our year planning meeting at the beginning of the year, we penciled in a late summer mountain trip. Then You Know What happened and I didn’t think it would happen. Daniel, Erika, Ivy and Aaron’s girlfriend couldn’t come because of work and school and having to quarantine upon arriving back at home. The week the trip was scheduled, the state quarantine restrictions lifted. By the time they went home, some restrictions were back in place. You never know what exciting new development will come down the path next. Mom, the twins, Willie (our brother from another mother), and his fiance Anna were able to come.

I spent hours on Airbnb looking for the perfect place. The number of people who could come kept changing and I reserved and canceled two places before settling on the cabin. One place didn't tell me until after I made the reservation that the electricity frequently goes out so someone needs to find the breaker box in the basement to fix it. No thank you. I have enough issues with my own breaker box without dealing with someone else's on vacation. I settled on a cabin in the woods and it was darling. There was enough room for everyone to have their own space and a creek outback. It set at the top of a very windy and steep road we didn't know about until we got there. It took 30 minutes to get from the cabin to the main road. Half of our group go carsick going up and down which was a prime opportunity for me to dig through the traveling pharmacy I carry in my purse. You got a bonine! You get a chewable Dramamine! You get a regular Dramamine! You got a zofran!

Annabelle was in heaven. She played in the creek and collected rocks. She spent hours outside and had dessert every day. She and Elizabeth made rafts with twigs and leaves to sail down the river.

Fifteen minutes after we left home, she realized she hadn't brought her Memere blankie. She's slept with it every day since she was born and brings it on every trip. I asked if she wanted me to go back for it and she said no, she'd ok without. It broke my heart a little bit that she wasn't crying for it like she would have when she was younger. On the last two nights of the trip, she cried because our trip was going to end and we might never get to go back. She said she wished she had Memere blankie to comfort her.

We went tubing down the Chattahoochee River and hiked to a waterfall. We went to a swinging bridge and played in the water. The water was calm so I let AB swim near the middle. She swam just fine the first time, but the second time she panicked a little and started to float downstream. I didn't realize at first she was struggling so I told her she'd be ok if she did what her swimming teacher taught her to do. Christopher had to charge in and rescue her. And with that, my hopes of winning Mother of the Year 2020 floated away.

The highlight of the trip, and possibly my entire year, was this old phone in the cabin.

IT MADE ME SO HAPPY. I have wanted this exact phone for years. Christopher refuses to get me one since we have cell phones and don't need to pay for another phone blahblahboringadult. AB and I made endless pretend phone calls using the rotary dial. We tried to call my phone but it didn't work so I assumed it was just for show. I cannot explain my delight and joy when we were eating supper and THE PHONE RANG. I thought it was the regular house phone but it was the old fashioned one. I could not have charged across the kitchen faster if I was being chased by a sworm of anger murder hornets. I answered the phone in such a fit of giggles I could barely get out the word "hello." I forgot I had to hold up the mouthpiece and kept letting go. Everyone else was laughing which made me laugh even harder. The laughter stopped quickly when the man on the other end said he was calling from the police department. In that split second, I went through any actions in my life that might have warranted the police calling me on vacation. The policeman said, as he was sure I was aware, the force is struggling right now and would I be open to making a one-time donation. I explained we were at a rental property but I'm sure the owners are supportive of the police. I forgot to hold of the mouthpiece so he heard nothing and I had to repeat it. I ended the call with "Good luck on your campaign" like he was running for president. It was embarrassing but nothing could bring me down from that high. I know it's a silly thing but it really was a lifelong dream to have a conversation on that phone.

Forget about the latest and greatest in the tech world. I know what kind of phone I want for Christmas.

it's been a paparazzi free week

I had the best of intentions to blog at the end of last week, but two dramatic events happened within one hour and I needed time to recover.

First, Annabelle found a frog stuck between the storm door and the screen in our back door. Lest you forgot, I DETEST FROGS WITH ALL MY BEING. I was hoping it would be gone when I got back from school drop off but it was not. I tried slamming the door to knock it off but all that happened was the frog moved its sticky, slimy leg and I nearly gagged. Finally, it jumped off and I screamed. It didn't come towards me but I screamed anyway. 

Second, I had an unfortunate doctor's appointment. I've seen that doctor several times and I have all but given up on trying to uphold many modesty issues when it comes to his role in my life. I knew the ultrasound tech would also be in the room but plot twist! He asked if it would be ok if his new assistant Bethany watched as well. She had never seen it done and needed it for her resume. Ideally, the fewer people seeing me in a compromised position the better but at that point, there were already two people so what's a third. Make some popcorn and bring in the whole office. I had a similar procedure done before and it's not an exaggeration to say it was HORRIBLE. Google told me the recent procedure would be less painful and the ultrasound lady and doctor both agreed. They were both wrong. It was also HORRIFIC. Bethany kept looking down at the situation then patting my arm and saying, "Try to relax." I appreciate her sympathy, but she wouldn't be saying that if she knew first hand the trauma of what was happening. The doctor nonchalantly asked about my summer in an effort to distract me. I love the doctor and am happy to talk to him any time, but I was not in the mood for a casual conversation. When it finally ended, I sat up and thought I was going to either throw up or pass out so I had to lay back down with a wet facecloth on my neck. I drove over to Dunkin Donuts and ordered three powdered munchkins to reward myself for surviving the morning. They misunderstood my order and gave me three full doughnuts instead of munchkins. It was proof that the Lord still shines upon me.

All that to say, I haven't had of the right frame of mind (or lower body) to blawg. But I'm back now with absolutely nothing of significance to say!

Annabelle went to a sign class at work with me. Usually she can't do the classes as they're almost all for16 and older, but every so often there's one kids can attend. She made a sign we're giving to her teacher for Christmas which makes me feel very prepared for the holidays. Bonus points that the sign was free thanks to my employee discount. Ses told me, "Mom, you can stand over there while I do it all. You don't need to help." Far be it from me, the personally literally paid to do the job, to give advice.

Yesterday we made our weekly pandemic trip to Home Depot. AB walked around with sunglasses on like she expected the paparazzi would chase her down in the pipe aisle.

The paparazzi did NOT chase me down when I slunk out of the doctor's office.