Writing to Sanity

There are Ten Commandments, my friends, and I’ve broken nearly all of them at one point or another. Sometimes repeatedly.

I had a real moment of truth in the not-so-distant past, while I was sitting with a small group of friends during fellowship at my church. My moment of truth had to do with the hypocrisy of claiming to be a Christian, yet consistently subscribing to the “do as I say, not as I do” way of living. Is this where you’re at these days? I know I am not alone.

I was raised Roman Catholic and converted to Nazarene in 2007 so, for the past thirty years of my life, I have called myself a “Christian” alongside the rest of the estimated 33% of world-wide peoples who claim to be Christians. (You can view the pie chart in a larger size if you click on it.) I can’t help but wonder how many of those 33% of people noted struggle daily, as I do, with self-hypocrisy.

Read the rest of this post on New Jersey Moms Blog.

Last week, my mom and I headed to the Big Apple to check out some new (to me) sights and sounds.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to see and do — I mean, I’m completely satisfied to sit and people-watch on the subway, at this point. In the end, we saw the Empire State Building, John Lennon’s last residence, Central Park, Columbus Circle, and ate some really great food!

Here are pictures from our jaunt — see if you recognize any of the buildings/places, and a virtual high-five to the first person who finds the picture of the place where the RMS Titanic would have docked, had it made it’s final stop on the fateful trip in 1912.

I’m absolutely exhausted today. Not sure why, it’s not like I was out and doing a whole heck of a lot!

My day went by pretty quickly. I met with an employment agency at 9 am and finished by 1030 am. Drove home, had some breakfast, worked on whittling down my e-mails and perused social networking sites until right before noon, when I left to meet with my pastor. I was going to assisting with some administrative duties that had fallen by the wayside since he had recently been ill.

Anyway, I arrived back at home around 330 pm and fiddled around for a bit before I called my dad to see how he wanted me to start the soup we were to have for dinner. After that, I chopped veggies and browned some chicken breast and started the soup on the range.

My dad, Ethan, Mary and I sat down together for dinner (my mom was working late tonight) until it was time for Ethan and I to take his Pinewood Derby car to the school to be weighed and looked over before the big competition tomorrow night! Only… when I arrived with Ethan and his pinewood car…

No one was there. Not a soul. Okay, well, ONE soul, but it was the school janitor. He said there was nothing on the calendar for tonight. Dangit!

Because of my faux pas, I’ve decided I should be off to bed before time slips away from me, as it so often does. I will not pass “go”, I will not collect $200. I have to wake up early for a trip with my mom to the city — besides, my electric blanket is calling me.

Ta.

Oh, this has been a sad. sad day!

You know you suck when your eight-year-old kid kicks your butt in bowling and (I’m not quite sure why I’m about to share this bit of information) beating you involves using “bumpers.”  Not just the kids used those bumpers… all of us did, dear friend. At least my dad broke 100 on both games played — can’t say the same for myself. I’ve conveniently blacked out about my scores since then, so I don’t recall what they were EXACTLY, but I know it wasn’t close to 100.

It’s okay, I don’t mind the hysterical laughter from the peanut gallery.  I’m just sayin’.

Here are some pictures from our trip to the bowling alley today:

As always, you can click each one to enlarge the view, and you can go directly to the Flickr to see more photos and videos from today: GO THERE NOW.

When was the last time you took your kids bowling?

Welcome to Introduce Yourself Day, brought to you by Trisha at MomDot. I won’t bore you with a drawn out wordy story. Instead, I’ll be providing a list for ease of reading à la the 100 things meme.

I have strawberry blonde hair.

I’ve worn glasses for a long time, and I only started wearing contacts about a year ago.

I have blue eyes.

I am the oldest of six children.

I have two children.

My birthday is April 17.

I was born on my maternal grandfather’s 49th birthday.

I wore a cast for several weeks after I broke my foot while I was in the fourth grade.

My longest lasting friendship has been going on for about 20 years.

I celebrated my tenth high school reunion in 2007.

I was married December 27, 2001.

I was divorced May 13, 2009.

I own a 2001 Buick Century.

I love (singing and watching) karaoke.

I was raised as a Catholic, but converted to Church of the Nazarene in 2007.

I would rather listen to Frank Sinatra and The Beatles than anything else.

I would rather take black-and-white pictures than color pictures.

I would like to visit Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand before I die.

I took Spanish classes in junior high and high school.

I learned calligraphy while I was in junior high.

I have played the flute, violin, piano and baritone, but I believe I am most talented at using my voice as an instrument.

I get lonely sometimes.

I am shy at first, but I usually end up being a social butterfly in most situations.

I love to spend time with people I am close to.

The profession I would find most rewarding: teacher.

Something I use too much online: LOL and

I consider myself a Democrat, but I have Republican tendencies.

I was a stay-at-home mom for four years, from 2001-2005.

I have worked in retail, fast food chains, call centers and healthcare.

I have a high school diploma, but I am looking forward to earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the next few years.

I am the only red-head in my immediate family.

I married a red-head.

My children have red hair.

I consider myself to be a night owl, even though I don’t stay up past 11 pm on most days. (If I had my way, work would be at night, and we’d sleep during the day!)

My favorite movie is Babe.

I love the smell of freshly cut grass.

I hate the smell of automobile exhaust.

I have no pets.

My drink of choice is water.

I’m a packrat.

I have my ears pierced twice in each ear.

I have two tattoos; one is an angel on my right shoulder-blade, the other is a butterfly on the outer part of my lower left leg. I have no desire to have anything else done.

I seem to be drawn to geeks and jocks for my objects of lust. (How is that even possible?)

I have participated in a women’s barbershop chorus (baritone) and quartet (tenor).

I try to avoid onions.

I have no gallbladder.

I have no tonsils.

I made my first trip to Las Vegas, Nevada during April 15 and 16, 2008.

I am predominantly right-handed.

I am afraid of large bodies of water.

I am afraid of spiders.

My first job was working at a local fireworks stand.

My next job was working at a local Dairy Queen.

The marriage/relationship of my dreams: Not without flaws. Passionate love, passionate arguments. The highest level of dedication for each other. Safety, security, and no-nonsense. A family.

Raising my children. All I can say is WOW. And, for those of you who are parents, I know you understand! Oh, sure, it’s rainbows and butterflies most days: the hugs and kisses at night as I tuck them into bed, the high-fives I give them after a job well-done, the memories we make visiting different people in different places.

But, with all that “good” going on in the house, there’s been a balance of “icky”, too. There was the time that Ethan puked in the car on the way up to Coal Creek Canyon – yeah, he missed the bag completely and spewed all over the faux suede car interior. Did I mention he had no extra clothes? And, let’s not forget the “two-ended messes” after a bad batch of spinach lasagna – let’s suffice it to say all three of us slept in the bathroom that night and I washed a lot of clothes and towels the next day.

Something else (and I can’t say I’m quite surprised by this one): I’m completely certain that they think they’re smarter than me. One example came to mind as I was reading See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays From the World’s Most Harried Moms (yes, some of you remember the story well): the time Ethan’s teacher contacted me at work regarding an incident with forgery. He was in second grade at the time.

I wanted to remember the thoughts in my head forever, so I wrote it in a short faux-letter to my son via my blog:

Dear Ethan,

Paybacks. Fun. I just got a call from your literacy teacher saying you forged my signature for the reading log you didn’t complete last night because you misplaced your backpack. I started cracking up, not because I wasn’t upset… but because the teacher told me you signed it “Dez”. Looks like I need to have another talk with you about lying.

((((Pray for him that he’s able to live another day.))))

Oh, it was a thing of beauty, this “Dez” signature! But, how does a second-grader think to do that?? I can recall my own days in junior high school and beyond. Coming home every Friday with a progress report from my teachers when my grades were less-than-stellar (okay, they totally sucked eggs) and forging my mom’s signature, pretending that she had seen the paper so I didn’t get my block knocked off. I know, I was a bad, bad kid. But, hey! At least I got the name right.

So long as I, Desiree (aka Dez), am not helping my son dodge the forgery authorities by moving from one state to another, I can be found here at Writing to Sanity, as well as New Jersey Moms Blog.

Today I’m showing you some photos that my parents and I took over the past couple of months or so. I’ve been a slacker, I know. Mostly, you’ll see photos and from our trip to New York City in December, where we checked out the shop windows and tried not to get run over by all the other people on our way to Rockefeller Plaza to see “the tree.” There is some proof that my kids made cookies and decorated them, and I’ve also included some photos from my trip to Denver in November.

Some of the snapshots are silly, and others are absolutely beautiful… but all are documentation for my kids that, despite what they might think, we really do get out and have some fun!

If you click on an image, it will take you to the Flickr page where the images are bigger (plus, you’ll be able to see more in the set). Do you have photos you’ve been holding back, too? Post a link to your photo album in the comments and I’ll stop by!

Our Father in Heaven, we give thanks for the pleasure of gathering together for this occasion.  We give thanks for this food prepared by loving hands.  We give thanks for the freedom to enjoy life and all other blessings.  As we partake of this food, we pray for health and strength to carry on and try to live as you would have us.  This we ask in the name of Christ, our Heavenly Father.  Amen.

My aunt, Tracie, is a courageous woman. She has survived things unimaginable to any living soul, yet she’s still standing at the end of the day. She inspires me all the time. Yesterday, after I wrote an e-mail asking for help with a project I’m working on soon, she inquired as to how my kids and I were adjusting to live in the northeast… she also asked if I was still talking with my ex.  You know, I am truly blessed to be here. I was scared at first, but my life is really great. I’ve been going to a bible study with the ladies at my church every Tuesday night – the three of us love our church. Mary and Ethan are doing very well in school and making lots of friends – better than I expected and, yes, even Ethan has been succeeding!

Then there is the Grasshopper. Dear, dear Grasshopper. No, I’m not talking to him for a few reasons: lie after lie after lie, I finally realized he was not the man I thought he was; he said he wanted to remain friends but is utterly incapable; and he is already seeing someone else. Interesting for a man who said he could be just fine on his own. But, I’m not bitter. Anymore. I’m not going to lie, the first month has been emotional for me. It’s been absolutely heartbreaking, and my dad can attest to that – there was one night that I spoke with the Grasshopper and, when I got off the phone, all I could do was find my dad and cry in his lap. No words, just crying. Life sucks sometimes.

I’m okay now. I still cry on the inside at times, but it’s been a while since I cried out loud. Mostly I get angry at the Grasshopper, instead of sad now. Luckily, the anger passes after a few minutes. Church activities have helped, as well as searching out new opportunities to get out and meet people. I’ve learned that I’m quite gutsy when it comes to that part of living here… I figure I can be whoever I want to be, and who cares if someone doesn’t like me for this reason or that reason.

Family is (and has always been) very important to me. One thing that I love about living here is that my parents are eager to play with the kids and include them in their life as much as possible… Dad takes them hiking, Mom takes them shopping. They will be as close to my parents as I am after all is said and done, and I’m grateful to God for that.

I found this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, and it’s so applicable to my life that I’ve sort of adopted it as my motto for this month:

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Preach it, sister!

This past Friday, my kids and I went to Ethan’s Cub Scout Pack Meeting. While the potluck Thanksgiving feast was grand, the lack of respect for each other was not so fun. Head over to New Jersey Moms Blog to see why I left with a pain in my neck and my head throbbing… and why I’m going to assume that this is the best it’s gonna get.