Help me Understand

Patton Creek was supposed to be this very cute and fancy out door shopping place. And, it really started out like that. The anchor gift shop is great. They always have fun items for almost every occasion. I know when I need a gift, Wrapsody will have it. The girls working are always so sweet and helpful, and their customer service is fabulous. So, I love Wrapsody, never want it to go anywhere, it is a huge asset for Hoover. There are a couple of other very cute shops as well, Mustard Seeds is adorable and has so many cute unique Christian gifts and I've even found one of my favorite dresses in there. And then there's Edgars which is yummy and cute and there are many other restaurants to choose from but when it comes to boutiques and gifts there really aren't any and the shops that are in there other than the one's I mentioned above really aren't up to what I thought the standards of Patton Creek were supposed to be. I know when I'm shopping, if shop doesn't have atmosphere and ambience, it's a huge turn off. I know it takes a lot of money to set up shop. But I think there are savvy ways to do it without throwing a bunch of stock tables together and white metal shelves on the wall. Women want to feel like they're in a special place when they're shopping. I'm just disappointed with how Patton Creek has turned out. One of the newest boutiques as a bootleg sign on it. I cannot think this makes the owners who have worked so hard to build a beautiful business happy. Come on Hoover!

Not so little month called January!

By the time the end of January rolls around, I'm so done. I'm done with this long month, I'm done with cold, I'm done with adjusting to the new year budget at our house. That's never fun. :/ If it not for my middle child, our first boy, who by the way thinks I'm the lamest mom ever's birthday, I'd probably crawl in a hole and hibernate....Seriously....No joke! So, when the last days of January are upon me, I literally think, "holy cow! I think I'm going to make it!"  People, this is not a new thing with me. I was like this way back in elementary school.  This month is long, it's cold even in the deep south. Ha, we just had snowpacolypse this week. Flu, cold and stomach viruses are everywhere. Be sure to wash your hands after using the equipment at the gym! Oh and there's that extra 7lbs from the holidays, let's add another 7 because down here the holidays start when football starts.  But soon, Very soon. February will be here. And, it's short and yummy because it's all about hearts and pink. I love pink and hearts too! I'm sure I'm jinxing things but Februrary here in the Ham isn't as bad as January. By Valentines the first brave blossoms start to appear. Sure we'll have cold days ahead, probably a little more snow but at least January is behind us. If I had to paint January, it would be a blob of white paint, Ok, I think I'd add a little heart for my Jack who will one day realize that I am really fun and not lame at all!

"Why do you hate the ipad?"

My new fancy iphone 5 decided to just die last night. I've had it a week....So, with that being noted, I have a minute to post on here b/c I'm not instgramming, snap chatting, facebooking or texting. I've already cleaned the bathroom and I'm on my 2nd load of laundry...Dishwasher has been unloaded and reloaded. I've cut out ornaments for orders and I've helped Kate with a sorority project. But I'm really thinking about the ipad the kids have gotten at the high school. The ipad is great. It really is. It is a wonderful tool for the kids and it's really great they don't have to carry 100lbs of books around anymore. There are all kinds of fancy things they can do on it with in regards to school work. I've been talking to other parents recently about their experience with the ipad in their house with their children. The question that has come up more than once is, "so why do you hate the ipad?" It's not that I hate the ipad but I do find it hard to see what my child is studying. I know I'm old school because I didn't have an ipad growing up so I really like to sit down with a book. It doesn't even have to be a big text book but I think it would be great if there were work books to go along with the online material. I would love to be able to look at printed material and go over it with my child. My friend said she doesn't like ipad b/c now her child has a device that she didn't personally purchase albeit through tax dollars she did but it's required for school and so she must have it. Along with the school work on the ipad there is the internet and tv shows and movies and music and games and a lot of ways for a high schooler to become easily distracted from studying let's say their history. Is technology good? Of course it is. It is really good and there's really no going back now as this is the way the world is headed but I'd love to see tangible tools used as well, index cards, real bright yellow highlighters, printed pages. Just a little. Keep the ipad but add the others too.

Making the team

Jack making the HHS golf team for the 2nd year has got me thinking. Rick and I are not golfers. Rick hates playing golf. He likes watching Jack play but one time when he was working in Peoria, he was golfing with a Dr. and the Dr. said in his cute Asian accent, "Rick, you know, if someone ask you if you play golf, you really should say no." haha, 15 years later we still laugh at Dr. Chang's advice to Rick. So, Jack finding golf is really sort of a fluke. Let's go back a few years. He played baseball, just rec ball but that's okay. And, he played football. Every boy usually plays a few years of baseball and football around here. Remember we live in SEC country where football in king and we live in Hoover where football is king. We love football, all of us. It's a huge part of our fall. But Jack learned early on that he was not going to be a Hoover football player. Rick and I thought, maybe we should have moved to a district that had a smaller high school so our kids would have an opportunity to play the sport they wanted to. But then we thought, maybe it's better to go to a school that doesn't just let everyone play. They have to make cuts and if you're not good enough to be on the team, well then, you're cut. Trust me, I know what that feels like. It's not fun and it hurts but you know what it does do. It makes you either work harder for the next try out or it makes  you evolve. Jack wasn't going to make the HHS baseball team, he knew that in 7th grade, he wasn't going to see the field on the football team. So, he decided to start golfing.  He tried out when he was a freshman but he was cut. So, he kept on trying and learning and practicing and he made it the next year and then again this year. I always tease him and say, you may not be on fancy tours when you're older but you'll know how to handle business on the golf course and a lot of business deals go down out there. It's tough being cut from a team but life's tough and maybe it's better to learn how to adapt and evolve when you're young so you'll know how to roll with the punhces when you're older and no one's giving you a free pass just because you're you.

***Side note about HHS... Competition is always fierce. There are a lot of kids vying for a few spots. I don't care if it's math team, cheerleading, baseball, soccer or peer helping. They're all good, they're all prepared and they want to make the team. It's always hard. Kudos to the kids who keep on trying and evolving and practicing! Go Bucs!

Listen

Be still and listen. Ahh, for me it is so hard. Should be easy right? The min. I sit an try to listen and just be still, my mind goes racing with a million things, I should be doing, I should have done, I should worry about and on and on. I obviously need to work on this. So, as I'm trying to be all meditative and such, I suddenly go into Becky Bloomwood mode. I need a fun new mat to "listen" on, and maybe a new zen cd to have in the back ground to help me get in listening mode. Oh and should I set up a cute listening spot in my room? But then I start thinking about what's under the bed and I should dust the blinds and the bathroom is nearby and I'm certain it needs cleaning too. Or maybe I should drive to the park and set up a cute spot but it's kind of hot out and ugh, there are bugs and of course other people that might be in my listening space. Ahhh haha, I know in my heart it really shouldn't be so darn complicated. I should just stop drop and listen. I've read that when we truly open our hearts and mind to the Holy Spirit, it's amazing what we'll hear. I love that, I love knowing there is always hope for so much more than our crazy busy lives. But then my human ego sets in sometimes and I think, what if I hear something that I'm not so sure about? What if it's a message that wants me to change? I know I know, that's where my prayer comes in. I know that. But change is scary and that's a whole different topic. For now, I'm just going to be still and listen. Or at least I'm going to try to.

School

We made it through the first week of school. Boys did great, Jack got his Ipad so he is Ipad official. this time of year makes me want to revamp and redo . I think it's because we moved here late July and when this time of year rolls around, I am brought back to that time. That time of painting and decorating. I worked in the yard on Friday. The lillys out there were over grown and just out of control. I took all of them out. I'm sort of liking the emptiness of the area. We are redoing teh basement.. I'm on a tight budget but I think it's going to be really cozy down there. Im ordering the furniture today. Everyone is excited for football to start this coming weekend! I'm praying for a fun safe drama free season! Please Lord!

How I've Forgotten!

I'm writing this quick post before I forget about it. Loved Fr. McDade's homily today. The Gospel today was from Luke and as he was reading it, I was thinking, wow God, you're really not being fair to these people. So and so wanted to bury his father before he could go on with Jesus and another wanted to take care of business before he went on. Fr. Mcdade is so eloquent with his words and he really breaks it down for people like me who need it broken down. When Jesus said, let the dead bury the dead, he was saying, let's go, move on stop making excuses. Ahh, yes. Okay, I get that! Love it! So I'm thinking as he's reading the verse in Luke, wow, I'm not so sure I could do all of that. I loved that Fr. expressed his concern that he wasn't so sure he could do all that either. Just drop all of it and go! But that was the vocation and calling for the disciples. Fr. continued to talk about vocations and he mentioned marriage. Ahh, yes, it is a vocation and I quickly remembered the TEC talks, and the marriage talk was one of them. I was reminded today, since choosing this vocation of marriage and family that everything I do for my husband and my family & myself is pleasing to God. So often I get wrapped up in the blah blah blah of every day life. It's a lot raising children and going to work, and paying bills and not losing yourself in the midst. I truly loved hearing this today!