the finger and the face

Abbie has a problem. She only points at things with her middle finger. Jon and I are constantly correcting her whenever we catch her doing it, but our efforts are quickly forgotten and she returns to flipping everyone off whenever she wants to show them something. Part of me thinks that she refuses to change on purpose. I guess that is why I love this picture. She has a mind of her own, wouldn't you say!

While we're on the topic of Abbie's funny quirks, I have to make note of "the face." She makes this face and she has been doing it for as long as I can remember. While this picture is a couple years old, the face is still the same. I hope she never stops!

to serve or not to serve?

Is it me or does it seem like these days there is a complete lack of work ethic in most people? I say this knowing that there are certainly those out there who still have a knowledge of what it means to provide customer service and earn an honest day's pay. However, I must vent here about the interesting dinner experience that we had tonight. Given that I am almost 37 weeks pregnant, we'll say that I have not been a stellar at-home cook of late. If I don't have a plan for dinner by the time I get up in the morning, it is all but a lost cause these days by the time I get my piano lessons done for the day. Such was today. Jon arrived home from work and it took some time to decide where we wanted to grab a bite to eat. We finally left the house around 6:30 and drove to the new Chinese buffet in town. All reviews had been good so far, and although I'm not much of a buffet gal (I'd rather spend the same amount of money on something that I know I'm going to like instead of a bunch of different items that are just so so), I agreed to give it a shot. Shortly after I got Abbie settled with her dinner, I started in on my own plate of adventurous fare, sweet and sour chicken. Within several bites, I discovered a rather large hair in my food and that did me in. While I did let the rest of my family continue to eat, having discovered no other intruders on their plates, I did point out to our attendant that I wouldn't be eating anymore from the buffet and that I would not be paying for my meal. She was very apologetic and changed our bill, no questions asked. All in all, the exchange was very amicable. So, while I'm still disgusted and we are not likely to return in the future, I have no hard feelings or intentions to go out of my way to let people know what happened. We left, but having still not eaten dinner, I needed to grab something on the way home. I decided on Quiznos, which I usually enjoy. We pulled up in front of the store around 7:40 pm and I wondered out loud if they were still open. Some of the lights were turned off and chairs were put up, but it seemed unlikely that they had closed that early. I proceeded to go up and check their posted hours, to find that they were supposed to close at 8:00 pm. So it tried the door. It was locked. Then I noticed the two employees who were crouching behind the counter in hopes that I wouldn't see them. One made the mistake of looking my direction. He knew I had seem him because he tried to wave me off. I pointed to the sign and then at the clock on their wall, which was set 10 minutes ahead but still showed 7:50 pm. He then turned his head and pretended like I wasn't there. I went back to the car, told my husband, and we backed out to where we could see them still hiding behind the counter. We even sat there for about a minute before pulling out. They didn't move until we rounded the corner, at which point they popped back up and continued to close down the store. Now, am I the only one who finds this infuriating? Am I crazy to feel an intense need to call up the owner tomorrow and make sure he knows how disrespectful I found this behavior? I guess it all comes down to principle with me. I could care less when Quizno's wants to close, but if you're going to post a closing time, then stay open until that time! All I want to do now is tell everyone I know not to eat there. Sure, some of that may be my cranky pregnant evil twin talking, but I suspect that I might still feel the same without fluctuating hormones. I guess that I am big on customer service, having spent most of my working life practicing it in some form or another. I don't know if it is generational, cultural, or what, but I sure wish that it would come back in style, don't you?

random thoughts

With my due date mere weeks away, I am finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything other than the unpleasant side effects of pregnancy. Most noticeable to my husband is my transformation into Oscar the Grouch. I would like to claim that I am trying my hardest to keep my emotions in check, but frankly it seems nice on occasion to have pregnancy as an excuse for my bad behavior. I'll admit that the persistant backache and leg cramps that have kept me sleeping uneasily for the last week do contribute to my nasty mood, but I probably could make more of an effort to keep my irritability in check. While the sleeplessness is likely to worsen here shortly, I do hope to return to a less cranky version once my physical complaints are diminished.

Today did offer some inspirational direction, however. Our stake held a Women's Conference with a couple keynote speakers and several breakout sessions. I really enjoyed a session on making goals and enduring through challenges. I often feel like everyone else is more pulled together, more on top of their families, more spiritual, more satisfied with the direction of their life, or more interesting than I am. It is nice to get a reminder that we all have problems and insecurities. I think that is why this blogging thing has intrigued me so much over the last couple weeks. As I have jumped around to the blogs of women who are total strangers but with whom I share some similarities, their insights have left me with a sense of encouragement about life. It's like I'm reading someone else's journal, but the lessons they have to offer don't have to be translated into my modern life. They are living it with me!

humorous or heartbreaking?

Kids are funny, especially when they aren't trying. This last Sunday after church, my son Derrick asked us what it meant to give someone a piece of your mind. Of course he was picturing it literally, which would seem odd to a 5 year old. So I explained that it meant you were telling them exactly what you think about something. That seemed to make sense to him, and he left the room. A short time later, I heard Abbie crying in the living room. I came out to learn that Derrick had pinched her. When I asked him what had happened, he promptly informed me that he was just "giving her a piece of his mind." What a stinker! Anyways, things calmed down shortly afterwards and we proceeded with the day. Then, out of nowhere, Derrick just fell apart. I asked him why he was crying, and he said that he felt bad because he didn't "choose the right" because he pinched his sister. It was so sweet to see, and somewhat surprising because I hadn't really lectured him for the previous incident. For several minutes he was inconsolable over the whole thing. When he calmed down, we were able to talk about repentance and how we can forgive others and ourselves.

Wednesday night brought another humorous yet heartbreaking moment. As I was trying to get Derrick in his bath, he started crying and told me that he didn't feel very good. This seemed odd given that moments before he had been competing for a spot on the Olympic jumping-on-the-bed team. Anyways, I asked what was wrong, where it hurt, and what it felt like. His response, through sad tears, "I feel sloppy." Hmm, not quite sure what that means. So I say, that doesn't make any sense. Do you feel sick? Does your head hurt? To which I get another, "I don't know, I just feel sloppy." Apparently there is some new terminology out there that I missed the memo on. I continued to press for a word that made some sense. His next attempt left me even more baffled. He said, "I feel flat." HUH? I said, "Flat like..." and he laid down on the ground and said, "Like this." Well, after about 10 minutes of running circles around this conversation, I finally convinced him that a bath would make him feel better. He didn't think so, but gave it a try anyways. I was able to get him to bed a little while later, hoping that he hadn't contracted some rare disease that made him feel so strange that he could think of no good words to describe his condition. Fortunately, he woke up the next morning having forgotten that the whole incident ever happened. Go figure!

playing the waiting game

Not so long ago they were both little babies. Now as I prepare for number three, it is hard to remember that they were once that small. How excited they both are to welcome their new sister in the next few weeks. Derrick is my oldest, full of intelligence and the desire to do everything the right way. Abigail is full of personality and determination. She keeps us entertained. It is hard to imagine what unique traits our new little sister will bring to our clan, but we are anxious to find out.

never in a million years

Never in a million years did I ever think I would have a blog. To be perfectly honest, I'm still not entirely sure what "blogging" is all about. Yet here I am. Perhaps I had too much time on my hands this afternoon, but after an old friend from college invited me to view her new blog, I decided to give it a try. What can it hurt, right? At the very least I may be more motivated to record the everyday moments in my life, although "millions" of them might be a bit too time consuming (I do have two young children and a third on the way, after all!)