Random Tuesday Thoughts

"A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments, soccer games, romances, best friends, location of friend's houses, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house."

- Unknown

I've decided to hop back on the RTT train this week -- won't you come along for the ride?

• I write this as I sit here wondering what to make for dinner. I'm really hungry, but I'm waiting for the chicken & dumpling fairy to come to the door. Either that or the pizza man. Hell, I'd settle for Meals on Wheels at this point. Why isn't there a charity that delivers food for working moms? I think that's an idea that someone should totally run with.
• While at my in-law's house this weekend, my adorable (and always thirsty) son went to the fridge to get a Coca Cola. After taking a BIG swig, he spit it out and started yelling "Ooo...ooo...gross!! That's so nasty!!". Apparently, he had grabbed a red can and not realized that it was Tecate, not Coke. Oops:) In his words, it made "his eyes burn", so I guess he wasn't a fan. But now he sure thinks it's funny to tell his neighbor friends how he drank beer. The eight year old neighbor asked if he got "trunk". Hehehehe....(*sidenote* I hope no one from DHS is reading this.)
• While also at my in-law's house on Sunday, my daughter nearly concussed herself. She was running, as she always is, and ran smack into the glass screen door. It was so loud that one of the guests thought someone had thrown a brick at the door. After she hit the glass, she ricocheted into the wrought iron bench on the porch and whacked the back of her head. Only my graceful daughter could run into something face forward, but end up with an injury on the back of her head. Things that make you go hmmm....
• Dear hubby is off at a pool tournament tonight. He's been off doing stuff for the past few days with a new friend he's made at work. To be honest, I'm really glad he's made a buddy. (My buddy...my buddy... anyone else remember that song & doll? :))

Jess. Out.

Notes from the Hall House

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." - Sam Keen

It feels like it's been years since I've posted, although it's only been about two weeks. I only started this blog last August, but I feel so connected to it, to all of you, my dear, sweet readers. (All five of you.. you know who you are:) And you are sooo appreciated!). Summer fever has set in around here. I always write less during the summer months...choosing to spend my time taking trips to the park, reading, etc....

Since I'm too lazy to actually compose a thought provoking entry today (HA! When was the last time I did that??!!! Wait. Please don't answer that.), here's just a brief update on what's been going on in the Hall House.

• I have eagerly been awaiting reading Jen Lancaster's new book "Pretty in Plaid" & picked it up from the library Friday evening. And yes, I'm already done. What can I say?? I love me some JL! That being said- I still hold my opinion that "Such a Pretty Fat" is her best book so far. PiP was enjoyable--but I've found her blog entries (click HERE for the greatness) to be even funnier than her books. Does anyone else read Jen? If so, what are your thoughts?
• We took the kids to the driving range this past week. My six year old son has been golfing since he was a toddler (i.e. in the backyard, not at the golf course, LOL), so I wasn't surprised when he stepped up and knocked the sh*t outta that ball. I, on the other hand, have lost any golfing skills I may have once had. I consistently hit the top of the ball and/or almost sliced it into the man standing next to me. Oops! My bad. My dear hubby loves to golf, and since I've vowed to try to spend more quality time with him this summer, we're turning golf into a family event. A couple trips out to the course with all of us in tow, and he may change his mind:)
• Last night, DH had the grand idea to go hit up Celebration Station. I hadn't been there in years & was totally excited about getting to play miniature golf. So we go purchase our family pack and sit down to wait for our pizza, and lo and behold, a freak thunderstorm hits and power goes out in CS. You should have heard the screaming children up in that place...."MAMA!! Where are you???" "Baby, I'm right here, I'm right here!" (Lights flashing back on) "Oh sh*t.. you're not my kid!!". The Halls are so laid back, we were like, "Sahweet--everyone will leave and we will have this pad all to ourselves!". We rocked the indoor games, but unfortunately, the putt-putt course flooded out, so we will have to go back for that.
• The fam is headed to my mom-in-law's house this afternoon for a big Memorial Day weekend cook-out. I've really been looking forward to it. Of course I love spending time with our family & friends, but really--anything that gets me away from all the laundry piles around here is A-OK in my book! I'm planning on taking lots of pictures so prepare to be bombarded later.
• Although I haven't been posting much around here--I have been reading. I'm so glad I have such funny & intelligent bloggy friends to entertain me all the time. Love to all!

Have a great weekend everybody--Happy Memorial Day!!!

Musical Mondays: Love is a Mixtape

"When we die, we will turn into songs, and we will hear each other and remember each other." — Rob Sheffield (Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time)

I know, I know...for the few who may care... it has been a few weeks since I've posted a Musical Monday entry. It's certainly not for lack of finding great new music to listen to. I've actually been bombarded by new artists lately, which I'm sure will weasel their way into future entries. For this MM, I've decided to join my two favorite things- books & music. (I bet you didn't know that about me, did you? HA!)

A couple years ago, I stumbled across a book so delicious (yes, books can be delicious...at least they are in my world), so perfect, so absolutely me that it just confirmed my theory that books, and songs, always find you when you most need them. "Love is a Mix Tape" came to me at a time when I needed that affirmation that love is always worth the ache, that music can heal, and that there are others like me out there who make mix tapes for almost every occasion. I've stolen the words of an anonymous book reviewer on the web to provide you with a brief synoposis of the book:

"It was also when a shy music geek named Rob Sheffield met a hell-raising Appalachian punk-rock girl named Renee, who was way too cool for him but fell in love with him anyway. He was tall. She was short. He was shy. She was a social butterfly. She was the only one who laughed at his jokes when they were so bad, and they were always bad. They had nothing in common except that they both loved music. Music brought them together and kept them together. And it was music that would help Rob through a sudden, unfathomable loss.In Love Is a Mix Tape, Rob, now a writer for Rolling Stone, uses the songs on fifteen mix tapes to tell the story of his brief time with Renee."

Today I made a mix tape for my husband. Granted, it wasn't on a cheap, plastic cassette tape like I used to use. And I didn't sit by the radio waiting to record that one perfect song on the Top 40 countdown. I used a CD this time (although it does make me feel really old to admit that the first mix I ever made for Darrell was on cassette. And yes, it included "I Wanna Sex You Up." ARGH! The shame!!). I leaned towards the country tunes this time, since they seemed to really have the message I was searching to say. I call it the "Love Isn't Always Easy" mix.

I'm notorious for making mixes for random occassions. Most recently I compiled the "Mraz Road Trip Mix". I put together a mix for our wedding last summer to play while the guests were arriving... and nothing will ever erase the memory of "Lucky" by Jason Mraz playing in the background as my Dad fixed my veil before we walked down the aisle. A mixtape has that uncanny ability to always take you right back to where you were when you made it and who you were when you made it. That is the power of music. And in this case, the power of a book as well.

"It's always that one song that gets to you. You can hide, but the song comes to find you." — Rob Sheffield (Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time)

To My Mom Peeps!

Happy Mother's Day to all my dear bloggy friends!! Hope you have a wonderful day-- you certainly deserve it:)

Lots of love to you all!!

Dear Mr. Insurance Adjustor Man

Dear Mr. Insurance Adjustor Man,

Today, after a full week of waiting, we finally received a call from you. Thanks for taking time out of your day to speak with us. But I feel that I must clarify a few things about the way the situation went down. And just to make sure things are clear here, please don't think that I expected to hear good news. Our car was a 1995 with lots of miles, so I fully anticipated that whatever you said, it would not put me in a happy place. But nothing could have prepared me for the words "....we'll give you $200". Excuse me?? I'm sorry... you need to repeat yourself... cause I could have sworn you just asked if I wanted to take it up the a** today??!! (And I'm ashamed that you are causing me to say such filthy things. My dad will not be pleased that you brought this side out of me.)

If you recall correctly, after you subjected me to your spiel of reasoning, I simply told you that I understood the words coming out of your mouth, but YOU were going to have to be the one to call and tell the news to my husband, cause I simply wasn't going to do it. Surprisingly, you actually did so, and proceeded to call me back 20 minutes later to tell me that "they" were raising "their" figure by $900. Um hmmm. Talked to your boss? NADA book value? Depreciation? Wut-evah. You were trying to stick it to the Halls, and we.were.not. going to take it. So you just remember that the next time we meet in a dark alley. (I have no idea if that will ever happen- but at least you've been forewarned.)

In closing, I appreciate your heartfelt (*snort*) words of compassion for our current car (or lack thereof) situation. The next time I write a check to your lovely establishment, I'll be sure to think of you and the fond memories of our conversation.

Safe driving to you and yours.
Jessica

Thunderstorms & Toes

"It was getting dark so suddenly that Alice thought there must be a thunderstorm coming on. "What a thick black cloud that is!" she said."And how fast it comes! Why I do believe it's got wings!"

Lewis Carroll- "Through the Looking Glass"

Let the above quote serve as a reference as to 1) what the weather has been like around here lately and 2) what caused my dear husband to be in the center of a four car pile-up, thus totalling our secondary vehicle. Yes, I can honestly say that this week was definitely full of surprises. None of it went as expected...but hey, I should know by now to never expect anything or things inevitably turn out quite the opposite.

To begin, Darrell called me at seven a.m. on Tuesday morning (you know it's not going to be good when the phone rings at that time of day) to tell me that he's been in an accident on the way to work. It was pissing & pouring rain (as it has been all week long), and when he tried to stop, he slid into the car in front of him. Then, of course, the car behind him hit him, thus creating a chain effect that rammed all three involved cars into a fourth one. We're very lucky that he walked away from the wreck. The airbag deployed, so he was bruised on his chest and arms, and in his words "The motor was in the dash". I didn't get to see the after effects, but I can just imagine.

Of course, I didn't let a wee little wreck (HA!) get in my way of continuing with the plans to travel to Tulsa on Wednesday for the Jason Mraz concert. And boy... am I glad I went. Long story short, I decided I was not leaving that place until I got a chance to ask him why, for the second time, he DID NOT sing my favorite song!! So we plopped ourselves by the security gate near the buses and waited till he and his band came out to visit with us. Of course, every intelligent thought I've ever had totally left my body (don't you hate it when that happens??) and I probably sounded like a bunch of WahWahWah (*insert Charlie Brown's teacher's voice here*. Mr. A-Z was still totally gracious & proceeded to pose for this lovely photo with us. (*note: please ignore how extremely tired, windblown and NOT-sexy I was looking. It was approximately midnight & had been a very.long.day.

Come Friday, I get a text from dear hubby telling me he is at the hospital because he rolled over his foot with a one-man forklift at work. Luckily, he just broke one toe. Definitely could have been a lot worse. What a cincher to a very erratic week. And now that I've recapped it for you lovely readers, on to a new, improved week now!! I'm done with this past one!