Second-Guessing: A Personal Hangup

Here's our newly renovated game room:

(Still have to paint that lateral file cabinet on the right)

It isn't quite the same as having a huge basement, but we're still pretty happy with the transformation of our third bedroom into a second living area - and no, the new carpet isn't pink, but it does look that way in the picture. Speaking of pictures, I certainly wasn't looking for one of The Godfather, but I couldn't resist when I saw it. This is one of those movies that guys love, and Dave is no exception. Seems like it is always on TV, and I know if Dave sees it on the menu, we'll be watching it. So it was a perfect choice for the room; Jace thinks it is so cool, he now has it as his wallpaper on his phone.

Finishing this room has been fun, and has made me reflect on one of my most frustrating personality traits - and find some satisfaction on having a bit of success with it. Hi, my name is Nancy and I'm a procrastinator. I regularly second-guess my decisions and change my mind. Not about everything, and amazingly, not even really about BIG things. But there are some smaller, less important things that tend to waylay me every time. Looking back on past projects (home projects, not so much at work) it is easy to see my M.O. - if I'm not sure how something will turn out, then I just wait... and wait... and wait. Case in point is the hanging of pictures.

Thinking back on the four houses I've lived in since college, I'm embarrassed to say that I can recall unhung pictures in each home - tucked in corners or closets, or leaning against bare walls for months, and even years. All because I couldn't decide how and where to hang them; so the best decision was - well, no decision. It definitely causes anxiety for me - I mean, what if I hang something on this wall over here, but THEN I find another picture that would go better in this spot? Then I'll have to remove the anchor, patch, repaint, etc. Nope, better just wait until I have all the pictures I'm going to want in this room, and THEN I'll arrange and hang them.

But this time was different. Now, that's not to say that there wasn't some indecisiveness. Just ask Dave, who patiently accompanied me to look at art to hang over the sofa in our living room, after painting and changing our color scheme in that area. I bought one picture, then found another piece at a different store, dragged him there to look at it, almost bought the second one (at the cash register, debit card in hand), but then decided that the first was a better fit. And then I hung it, without having a plan for all the other walls. (Ok, he hung it the first time, I decided it was too high, and then lowered it myself when he was traveling the next week.)

But for the most part, I did just make some decisions and then go with them. The living room isn't quite complete yet, but it is getting there; and more importantly, there are NO pictures leaning against the walls, they're all hung. Success!

From Dating to Duct Tape

Ah, the roller coaster of adolescence. Last time I wrote about my 12-year-old's comments/plans on how he is going to be dating next year. Now this week, he's back to his almost-obsession with making things out of duct tape. Dave and I have joked about giving him duct tape for Christmas and birthdays, and I think he'd be thrilled.

Check out the messenger bag he made:

He and a friend made the front part at school in art, and then he finished rigging it with strap, etc and is now using it for his backpack. Creative kid!

We've all enjoyed a quiet weekend at home with the kids, we're watching season 3 of the TV show 24 on Netflix. I've finished week four of scuba lessons, and Dave and I headed to the scuba pool yesterday so I could practice putting all my gear together (scuba is an "equipment intensive" hobby, and lots of things to make sure are correct before getting into the water). We spent some time at the bottom of the pool, working on neutral bouyancy (finding the place where we were hovering, not going up or down)and clearing the water out of my mask, taking it off underwater, etc. I'm feeling more comfortable each time I'm in the water, and looking forward to our trip to Honduras in six weeks.

Now back to 24, and finishing up laundry before the week starts.

Growing Pains (for Mom)

"It is easier to floss with barbed wire than to admit you like someone in middle school." - This quote from a popular teen book is one of several etched on a glass wall in the teen section of the library near our home. Jace and I head there every couple of weeks to check out a fresh stack of books, and the quote is somewhat of a running joke with us now. I like to read it aloud and rib him a little each time we're there, and in turn he gives me the Oh, Mom look and eyeroll that I'm sure I'll be seeing more of as he gets older.

Not that I want to embarrass him (although at times it is hard to resist) but I know that no matter what I do at some point, he'll be at that stage where he's too cool to be seen hanging out with his parents and (gasp!) actually enjoying it. I'll just have to develop thick skin, breathe deeply and pick my battles, until he's oh, 22 or 23 and realizes that I actually do know some things about life. I remember that transition myself, both thinking that my parents just didn't get it, and then realizing that they did and appreciating what they had to say.

Lately Jace has gotten interested in skateboarding, I think as much for the socializing with friends as the actual sport itself. For the last several Friday nights our mom/son Friday night ritual has been kaput and I have been relegated to the position of chaffeur for his trip to and from the skate park here in town. I was a little leery of letting him stay there with his friends for the evening, having never let him hang out anywhere without me or someone else around. But it checked out okay, and is well supervised. I've chatted with the manager several times when I bring Jace, and hang out for a bit before leaving.

In the four or five times he's been there, I've not seen a single girl - this isn't like the roller rink when I was growing up, where we went to skate but also to giggle with our friends and meet boys. No, these kids are there to skate, with some pretty steep ramps, bowls, and a multitude other foreign terms that I've heard rattled off in the back seat on the way home. Thankfully there are several small ramps and areas that seem much more managable for Jace and his friends, who are all novices to the whole skateboarding scene.

Another important thing to note is that apparently (hopefully) skater clothes are no longer those baggy jeans/shorts with the waist halfway down the legs. The style now seems to be the "skinny jeans" with t-shirts and/or flannel long-sleeve shirts, which is decidedly better than the baggy look, but still not the most flattering. Clothing choices, though, would fall under one of those "pick your battles" categories, and not something I'm going to fight unless it becomes something of a necessity.

One thing that I have learned recently is that apparently girls are on his mind, even if he's not seeing any of them on Friday nights at the skate park. A couple of weeks ago he informed me on the way home from the park, "Mom, next year I'll be 13 and I'm going to start dating". Uh wait, stop the car, what!?!? Further discussion on this subject revealed that "dating" did not mean that he expected to be going out to the movies with a girl next year. "Dating" will mean that he has one girl that he will be texting, talking to, holding hands in school (or maybe not, I'm not sure what the rule on PDA is now in middle school?). A little more do-able for this mom, I think I can handle that.

Taking the Plunge

That dreaded milestone birthday is quickly approaching, the big 4-0 in late April. I'm actually not feeling bad at all about it though, which is really, really nice. Part of it is just coming to terms with some things in my life over the past couple of years, and being at a place where I am really, truly happy with myself and my life. Pretty awesome feeling. And, the other part is that I share the same birthday with my hubby - which has made it extra special. Plus, he's a few years (I won't say how many, but it rhymes with "sticks") older than me, which also makes me feel a little better... Ha! Although he looks pretty great, and no one ever thinks he is as old (!) as he is.

For our birthday last year, we bought a tree for the back yard - a really cool, unusual tree. This year, we're planning a trip to Roatan, Honduras, and I am so excited. Dave broached the subject by telling me that he had considered a surprise party for me, but wondered if I might like to go on a trip instead... a lot easier to plan (for him), and several days of relaxing for the two of us, versus one big night of fun? Not too difficult of a decision for me, I'll take the vacation, especially over a bunch of black balloons, Ex-Lax and other gag gifts! Hello, sandy beaches and relaxing breezes, here I come!

Here's another part of my plans for my 40th:

Yep, I'm starting scuba lessons next week. While I'm not a big adventurer, scuba diving is something I think I'll really like. Dave has been diving for years, and I had considered getting certified when we were married in Jamaica almost four years ago,. But I just didn't want to spend the 3+ days getting certified during our time there, with all of the other stuff to do. This way I'll be able to take the class work and pool work here in Springfield, and then finish up my open water portion at the resort.

More soon about our trip, the location/resort comes highly recommended by good friends Shawn and Lucas, who have been there twice in the past 18 months and loved it.

That's all for now, but I'll try not to let another 3+ weeks go by without posting.

Christmas at the Ranch

What a wonderful Christmas and New Years' celebration! It was awesome to have almost all of us home for the long weekend ... we missed you, Rob, Michele, Sam, Eva and baby Henry. Happy 2011!

Christmas 2010

Our holiday celebrations started with our family Christmas on Thursday night before Christmas. Paige finished finals earlier in the week and headed home for her month-long winter break. It will be great to have her home, and we'll hopefully be seeing her quite a bit before she heads back to Kansas City in a few weeks.

After dinner and gifts, we were able to take a family photo; actually we took several family photos (thank you to Gail for coming over and playing photographer, so I didn't have to try to put the camera on a barstool and use the timer, as in previous years), and Dave was cracking us up in most of them! I did manage to find one where we were all smiling and fairly serious, and had it developed in sepia tones for our New Year's photo card.

But this one below, with all of us cutting up, was one of my favorites:



Jace's favorite gift was an iPod Touch - we surprised him with Dave's old iPhone, converted to an iPod. He promptly downloaded a few of his favorite songs, several games and screen savers, etc. and has been playing it non-stop for the past week. It is hard to know what to buy Neil and Paige, but Dave did it this year, with GPS units for both of them.

On Christmas eve we went to the candlelight service at church, and then said goodbye to Dave and Neil on Christmas Day when they left for Florida to spend a few days with Dave's parents. Jace and I headed to St. Clair last night for a weekend celebration with my family... more soon, with some great pictures. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A moment on the lips, forever on the... well, you know.

My sis Tara sent me a text earlier this week "No DQ peppermint chip blizzard this year. So sad!" That's her holiday weakness, we talked about it last year. Thankfully (or NOT) they still have mine, out there everywhere, calling my name:



I don't know WHY I like these Candy Cane Hershey Kisses so much - I think part of it is the texture... as I'm eating the fourth, fifth, six one of the day, I just CANNOT get enough of the creamy white chocolate and those little peppermint chips mixed together in one perfect little bite! Now, if I just had any stinkin' willpower, I'd be ok. But I've bought more than one bag so far this holiday season... ok, more than even two bags. I'm not telling how many I've bought. I finished a bag last week and now I haven't had ANY this whole week. Progress! It is a good thing they're only a seasonal thing, I guess.

In other (related - ha!!) news, I'm back to the gym, at least in much more of a routine way than I have been the last couple of months. I tried my first step aerobics class this week. That always sounds like such a lame cliche to me, I've never really wanted to try it. But I can't get out of work in time to hit my cycling class I was doing, and this one doesn't start until 7:00 M-W. So, despite my two left feet, I tried it and liked it. A great workout, and hopefully in time I won't be fumbling around in the back of the room (if you position self directly in line with the instructor, then you can't see yourself bumbling around in the mirror!)

Off to the grocery store this morning and then cycling class at 10AM. Hope everyone is further along on Christmas shopping than me - if not, we're all in trouble!