For the past two years we have been going to Auburn during football season, ready to cheer on the football team to victory. It usually means weekend trips and vignettes of Southern football traditions, including the one and only Auburn Elvis.
Here it is three weeks into the 2009 season and I haven’t really mentioned our excitement and travels. It’s a blogging block I’ve been trying to deal with- repetition. As a personal blogger who does a lot of the same things every year, I find myself not really wanting to blog about “that” again. “That” can be anything, from football games to Christmas.
But this weekend, when we traveled to Auburn for the weekend, something different happened. Something I had to blog about.
Damon and I were fortunate enough to leave Tebow and Fuller with my Uncle’s family so we could go to the game alone. Originally we thought we would have to take Tebow with us, but circumstances changed and we found ourselves on the Auburn campus touring the tailgate areas and lining up for Tiger Walk.
The weather was uncertain, but we were prepared with some ponchos to help with what ever moisture came our way. And I thought it might rain, but I have to admit, I never expected what happened to happen.
We got into the stadium with in an hour before kick off. As the clock counted down, with about 30 minutes left, we saw the black skies move toward us. When the rain came, I thought I was prepared with my poncho. I was wearing my camera across my body, so it was covered as well. My small backpack had my second lens and spare battery, with other things like wallet, lipstick, and some swag we picked up outside the stadium. It was on my back and under the poncho.
When the rain came, it started with a few drops and suddenly the skies opened up and visibility became a challenge. Then the Voice of Auburn said because of lightening we had to clear the stadium and take cover. Damon and I picked our stadium seats up and started to make our way out, along with pretty much every one else in the stadium (except the student section).
Then I learned how crappy my poncho was. My hood wouldn’t stay up so my head was drenched. And the neck area was letting in water, soaking my shirt. I have no idea how long it took to get to cover, but it seemed like quiet some time. This allowed my shirt to get even wetter, and as the water seeped in, it also managed to get my camera a bit too wet*.
Once we made it to the concourse, we just had to stand around waiting. The operating procedure allowed people back into the stadium 30 minutes after the last lightening strike. We took longer, waiting for the crowd to thin out.
It was quite the experience. When the game started (about an hour after kickoff should have happened) it rained a little more, but nothing like before. We saw an amazing game, celebrated victory, and got a little chilly in our wet clothes.
Fun was had and now I have an Auburn football memory that doesn’t really run into the other games I have been to in the past two years. (The next home game I go to will be the Furman game in November. Hope it is exciting but dry.)
*deserves its own entry
[tags]Auburn, Auburn football, thunderstorms[/tags]
I went to the doctor a few weeks ago for a physical. It was my first non-ob visit since Tebow was born AND since I had quit nursing in the last couple of months, I was going in with out baby-related excuses. I was going in to see exactly where I stood in Health category of my life.
Really, it wasn’t a surprise… I’m overweight and my cholesterol is up. But my doctor was kind and open to still using the polite “but you are still losing baby weight” conversation, knowing I was probably not going to stay this weight forever. And in my medical history, when I lose weight, my cholesterol goes down. In other areas, my blood pressure is amazing (his words) and I have the pulse of a runner (his words, again). He is very certain I am not pre-diabetic and excluding the weight and cholesterol, I’m pretty healthy.
And that’s where I pause. I know I have to lower my cholesterol, so I know I have to lose weight. Getting the cholesterol down is my current inspiration. But even if I accomplish lowering those numbers and am still overweight, I’m going to need to find other inspiration to keep going. Because, I think before I got pregnant, I was participating in the “fat acceptance” movement (which I didn’t know was a movement until I saw this segment on Today).
I kind of saw myself like Emme, healthy but overweight. No, I didn’t work out four times a week like her, but I was walking in the neighborhood and watching what I ate. I was pretty comfortable, not thinking I had to be a size 6 or even a size 10 to be happy… but. I don’t know. Right now, I’m studying for my test in January. Once I get those cholesterol numbers in a happy range, then I’ll see how happy I am with fat acceptance or if I’m ready to keep up the work to become a smaller size.
Apparently I have a thing for food analogies. And it gets worse because today I was thinking about the things in my life that aren’t desert- the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning- and maybe I could compare doing those things like a mom who is telling her kids to eat their vegetables. Not always a fun thing to do, but definitely good for you and life is easier once they are off your plate.
And today, I ate vegetables. Bulk cooking waffles, doing laundry, getting school done, and all the stuff that goes along with caring for Tebow… I did them and it was good. And now I seriously think I need to find something else to compare life to because I am making myself hungry.
This week’s I ♥ Faces competition theme is “Contemplative.” This picture sprang to mind. I have used it on our family blog where it was getting some good comments as to what Tebow was thinking. I have no idea what he was thinking, as I often feel like I just have no idea what he is thinking, feeling, needing, wanting… so says the sleep deprived mother.
Head over to I ♥ Faces to check out links to other great contemplative photos. (If you want to participate on your blog, the deadline is noon tomorrow, which is different than most weeks.)
I was in the kitchen and had just turned on the dishwasher. When Damon commented on the smell, I turned off the dishwasher. The smell wasn’t coming from the kitchen.
A quick look outside showed us smoke coming from the North. And soon afterwards we were walking towards it and that is how we ended up spending a Sunday evening watching the St. Elmo United Methodist Church burn.
It brought up emotions I didn’t know I had. I cried tears for a church I didn’t really know, except it was a few blocks from my house and a few blocks from the church I do know and love.
This past Sunday our church celebrated its 120th anniversary. If a building could have been hugged, I would have done it. Our church, 120 years old, was being celebrated for its blessed past. During worship, we dedicated the new sections of our church, looking toward what God has for our future. The new fellowship hall was filled with people after the service, enjoying lunch and catching up.
I know a church is the people, not the building. I know when the Methodist church burned the people would still be a church body. I saw them, gathering and crying in the yard next to the church. I saw them cross the street, hugging and comforting one another as the roof caved in and the water streamed from the hoses. And I knew the church would still remain because the people would still be there.
As we celebrated our church’s anniversary and the blessing of our building expansion, it was really a celebration of the people who occupied the building. Even if our fellowship hall hadn’t been built, we still would have been together to celebrate the many years God had sustained the people of our church.
But. I have to say I am very thankful for the building. Because, since February, it has been a constant in the fog that is postpartum life. Ever since we came home from the hospital, unless we were traveling or sick, we have made it to church on Sundays.
The rest of the week would be foggy, cluttered with missteps, tears, and no forward motion whatsoever. And then Sunday would come, we would get our act together and go to church as a family. When we came home, for a few hours or maybe just a few minutes, I felt normal. And I knew I could face another week of fog, missteps, and probably some tears.
I’m not saying I’m at a normal place since Tebow as born and I’m not saying I’m drowning in some depths of despair. But knowing I can return to my church, the building and the people, reminds me weekly how important it is I turn to God for normalcy and direction.
And just like the people gathered next to their burning church, I know God will always be with me even if I feel my world is crumbling and changing around me.
For some reason, it took over five months to get a picture of Damon, Fuller, Tebow, and me together. We were getting together with family one Sunday and I insisted we get a picture of the four of us. Then it evolved into a group picture with the sisters and their families. Then the sisters and their kids.
While skimming through for the “good” one, I thought it would look fun to see them all together. I had my camera on a tripod and used a remote to fire the shutter. It is kind of fun to focus on one kid and see how he/ she changes/ fusses/ smiles/ scowls.
I don’t care how long you have been developing a life online. It doesn’t matter how many twitter followers or RSS subscribers you have. And if your neighbors are your friends on facebook, it is nice but it just isn’t the same. Because it really feels great when there is time when you interact with people in real life.
My friend Esther had a birthday on Monday and it was wonderful to be at her house, celebrating and catching up on the minutia of our lives. Heather was there and we talked the talk of getting together more often, especially for girls nights outs.
When it was time to leave, Fuller wasn’t happy but I have to admit, I was a little sad too. It really filled me up to have that interaction, the face time with my friends.
Tonight I had the pleasure of going to Mom’s Night Out, a monthly get together of the moms in the homeschool group we have joined. I was able to talk to other moms about our shared passion, talk to seasoned homeschool moms who offered encouragement and insight, and connect with new people who are actually people I have known for a while, but not that well. I even scored a playdate for Fuller tomorrow!
Last week I took a meal to a friend who recently had a baby. I ended up talking with her for 45 minutes about nursing, sibling interaction, and husbands. While it is easy to have those kinds of conversations on twitter or facebook, I felt so much better after talking to just one person face to face.
In a few weeks the Moms Group at my church will start back up. The encouragement, prayer, and support we give each other is something I have been missing these past few weeks (we take off for August). It is a joy to close the laptop and head to church on Wednesdays to see my mom friends.
When I was talking about cake the other day, two ingredients I have been looking at in my own life is my “digital” life and my “real” life. While both are good, neither are fulfilling. And it might be just that the ratios need to be tweaked. And I need to make sure I schedule the girls night out soon, so it isn’t just all talk.
For some reason my mind has been mulling over the idea of balance. When I was working there was often talk somewhere about work/ personal balance. It usually drifted to the ho-hum saying of “you can have it all!” and really I struggled because I never felt balanced.
Recently I stumbled on a post indicating that the balance we strive to achieve in our lives isn’t really like a scale with equal weights and measures, it is more like walking a balance beam where we are constantly compensating by shifting and swaying parts of our bodies while moving our feet along the beam to get to the other side.
It struck a chord with me, changing my perspective of life balance. But it still didn’t seem to fit. I think I thought it didn’t fit because really, there is never going to be perfect balance in all areas of our lives. In reality, somethings are going to weigh heavier than others, depending on the season of your life.
Which is why I think life is more like cake.
In a simple white cake recipe there are seven ingredients. They are all mixed together in different ratios, put through the stress of a 350 degree oven, and the outcome is moist yumminess.
Sometimes, you might accidentally get distracted by something and add baking soda instead of baking powder, the cake won’t come out the same, but it is still cake-like. Or maybe you think the cake needs an extra scoop of flour. Sometimes we can rework the ingredients and come out with something completely different than our friend, but it is still cake.
Well, I suggest our lives are like cake. The different aspects of my life (housework, motherhood, marriage, personal, etc.) are mixed together in different ratios. At this point I’m definitely spending more time with the kids than my husband. Heck, sometimes I think I spend more time with the laundry than I do my husband (because there is a lot of laundry, not that there isn’t enough husband, LOL!). Just moving through my days (and nights when Tebow isn’t sleeping well) can be stress equal to that of a 350 degree oven. There are days when the outcome is yumminess and days when I know there is too much flour and probably not enough sugar.
I’m still perfecting my recipe for cake. What’s yours like these days?
[tags]life balance, life is like…, work/ life balance[/tags]
A few weekends ago, the corner of the blogosphere where I have set up camp was a flurry of activity based on one topic: Blogher09. It is a conference for bloggers, mostly women (but men can go too!), put together by the community over at Blogher.com. Blog posts pre-conference centered on nervousness, wardrobe decision, and excitement. There were mentions of parties, meet-ups, sponsorships, and swag speculation.
It was really hard to dodge the build up.
When Blogher09 actually happened, the pictures, tweets, and blog updates were everywhere. I had wanted to follow along with the liveblogging, but I have two pretty important distractions and didn’t actually get to look at any of the liveblogs until today.
After Blogher09, the recaps (from disgust to exhilaration, resolutions to blackmail) were interesting reads. And after all of that, I learned one important thing: I wanted to go to a blogging conference.
The past two years I have gone to conferences affiliated with Izea. In 2007 I headed to Las Vegas for Blog World Expo and Postiecon. In 2008 I flew down to Florida for Izeafest. This year I am passing on Izeafest for several reasons, the main one being Tebow and the second one being money. I wish I could go, mainly because it is being held at SeaWorld and I’m really going to miss seeing my friends.
Since my go-to conference was off the table, I started paying attention to a hashtag in my twitter stream: #typeamomcon. I was familiar with Type A Mom due to some folks I follow on twitter. And it appeared they were hosting a conference. So I started digging around: visiting the Type A Mom Conference website, checking out the speakers, and seeing what the cost was.
The conference is being held in Asheville, North Carolina. Which means it is a 3 1/2 hour drive for me. The cost was only $100. I was able to also pay for childcare for Tebow (Kidcon!), which made me feel the conference was family friendly. The room rates are reasonable, and if I find a roommate, it is even more reasonable. So I quickly discussed it with Damon, checked my paypal account, and got my confirmation email. I was booked to go to a blogging conference!
Visit Type-A Mom Conference I really want to go to one because it really is an energizing way to connect with people who do something you do too. Here in my living room, it can get a bit monotonous being the only one excited about my blogging. So, in September I will be off to North Carolina, Tebow in tow, and enjoying a weekend focused on something I really, really love. I can’t wait!
Update on 8/15/2009 : Sarah, of Real Life, started a McLinky Blog Hop for the Type A Mom Conference Attendees. So, I entered this post. Hi to all the visitors! I hope to meet many, many of you in September.
I’m spending this week trying to get cleaned up and organized to start school with Fuller on Monday. I still have a ways to go, but I think it is totally doable.
One of the areas I have to be diligent to stay organized in is meal prep, specifically breakfast and lunch. I can totally see our day breaking down before we get started just because I dilly dally in making food for the family.
This is where my new found love of bulk cooking comes into play. I’m making my freezer work for me by making and storing a variety of breakfast and lunch items. And my recent success in the breakfast arena are egg muffins.
I love breakfast, specifically eggs, but hate making them. When I was in Texas visiting my parents, we were watching Hubert Keller: Secrets of a Chef and he was making breakfast burgers and fruit fries. I watched the burger part with interest because I figured I could adapt it somehow to make something like egg mcmuffins, without the english muffins.
On Monday morning I whipped up some eggs, whipping cream, ham bits, Parmesan and some mixed shredded cheese. I poured them into muffin tins, put them in my 375 degree oven, and waited 20 minutes. They puffed up and cooked well. I ate one after it cooled and it was yummy! Fuller had one for lunch. Then I flash froze the rest, putting them in a freezer bag after two hours. The next day I heated one up in the microwave and it still tasted yummy. Therefore, I decided they were worth making in bulk to have on hand for quick breakfasts.
So, what works for me? Egg muffins, made ahead and frozen for quick breakfasts (or lunches!).
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Well, that was definitely different
