7 Weird things about ME!

My dear friend, and neighbor, Heidi (everyday cookies), TAGGED ME with the "7 weird things about you" tag. So I get the opportunity to share my weirdness with all of you....and I get to tag 7 fellow bloggers! Since I don't know very many bloggers, and most of them know each other, I am just going to pick 5 :)

The following people should consider themselves TAGGED:

Keara
Shannon
Meghan
Julie
Mandy

Now...on to discussing things that make me weird. :)

1. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive behavior, such as randomly pulling hair out of my head.....I CAN'T STOP! I conquered the obsessive foot rubbing I used to do though. :) That's a good thing!

2. I absolutely LOVE peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches. I always have since I can remember. YUM!!!!

3. I am neither a night owl nor a morning person....and afternoons really aren't my best either. I think I consider myself a even keeled person. I am at my best all day, or at least as good as it gets! tee hee

4. I worry....and I drive people nuts with it. I worry about things that most people don't even have a second thought about...but the BIG BIG things, like my DH fishing on a commercial fishing boat in ALASKA, I just don't worry. I suppose after 16 years of him doing this job, I just can't worry about it, or I wouldn't survive. I just have faith that he will be fine. However, I lose sleep over the fact that I don't think Tom Cruise is treating Katie Holmes and their child fairly. LOL

5. I have a really odd obsession with collecting Cookbooks, but I rarely, and I do mean rarely try new recipes. I just simply LOVE to read them. Makes me all happy and hungry!

6. I have a severe fear of spending money. If anything costs over $40, I have to somehow justify it, ask for it as a present, or fret over it for days before I can buy it. I can afford it....but I need to feel like I deserve it, or that I somehow earned it. ugh....It is disabling at times.

7. This weekend, when my daughter was a Grandma's house, I found myself wanting to watch the Disney channel or Noggin. I really do love kid shows. LOL Here I sat watching The Backyardagins....alone! tee hee

You know what? I am pretty sure that I am really really weird. I find myself saying it allllll the time, but oddly enough I had a hard time figuring out what to write here. Isn't that weird? Honestly one of my most common statements is, "I know....I know....I'm weird!" I think I say it at least twice a week.

Now I am going to lose sleep tonight worrying about what you think of my strange hair pulling behavior! ha ha.....I know....I am weird!

I have the bestest friends EVER!!!!!

My dear friend Keara nominated me for a Blogger's Choice award! What a super sweet thing to do! I am all excited!!!
Thanks Keara....you are so very awesome, and I am so blessed to call you my friend! :)

Who benefits from weekends with Grandma and Papa?

Sugar Bear's first night away from Mama was in September of 2006. She was a little over 20 months. It was just one night...but boy was it tough......so very tough.....on ME! :) Kenna had a blast. She loves her Grandma and Papa. They are silly and fun. They spoil her, and give her tons of one on one attention. It was me, that felt like someone cut off my right arm. I didn't have a clue what to do with myself. I managed....but called at least 10 times.
Here we are in May of 2007, and Kenna has spent the night with her grandparents at least 6 or more times now. Once even for four days in a row! We are old pros at it now. I try to call only 3 times a day, and she loves to talk to her mama on the phone. It really melts my heart to hear her excited little voice on the line. We have our own little language and code words. What a sweet way to connect, when there are miles and miles between us.
Tonight Kenna is at Grandma and Papa's again. She will be staying for 3 nights, so I can do some organization, and celebrate National Scrapbook Day on Saturday with 12 hours of non stop scrappin! I sit here missing her greatly. It is so odd to drive home from work and just get out of the truck and walk into the house. There is no one to carry, and squeeze, and ask about their day.......it is strange. There is no one clinging to my legs as I cook dinner. No one to feed....no one to bath...no one to put to bed. Honestly, after all this practice I still don't know what to do with myself when my daughter is not here. It feels so free....but not in an emotional way. I am not sure I have ever craved emotional distance from my daughter. I do, every now and again crave a little bit of physical distance. It is sort of interesting to just be responsible for my body, my feelings, my thoughts again. However, I sit here feeling like I forgot to do something. I always feel like this when my Sugar is away.....like there is something I should be doing.
When I called tonight...I could hardly hold a conversation with my mom, as she was too busy laughing at the things Sugar Bear was doing. I could hear Kenna laughing...and talking. She was playing ball with Papa. Grandma asked her if she'd like to talk to me, and she jumped up and said, "just minute papa, I need talk to mama!" awwwwwwww my polite girl. When she reached the phone she excitedly told me about playing with Papa, and going to see the sick cow! tee hee Clearly she is having such good times.
So the question is....who really benefits from these little nights away? Is it me? I certainly appreciate the freedom to get things done uninterrupted. Oh and the sleeping in.....that is good....REAL good! Is it my daughter? She certainly thrives in the company of her Grandparents. She experiences so much on the farm. Is it Grandma and Papa? The certainly take great pleasure in seeing her growth, and feeling connected to her. They never turn down the opportunity to care for her.
The answer....All of the above. There is just no doubt about it. It is a good thing. We are blessed to have these moments, and every single time we each cash in on the benefits.
Life is good!

What is it all about?

As many of you know, I am in no way a neat freak. It is laughable actually. I really don't hold up to the typical Virgo when it comes to organization and order. However, it sure can be a real struggle for me to whip out a really messy craft. Maybe it is the dreaded clean up that has me so apprehensive????

I find it pretty surprising that a former preschool teacher, like myself, hadn't yet given my nearly 2.5 year old child the opportunity to bust out her inner artist with a medium such as finger paints. I had to just quiet my inner lazy cleaner-upper, and let her at it!

First I set her up with an old t-shirt, to make sure those darn washable finger paints didn't touch her clothes. There is nothing I hate more than a pesky stain on her clothes. Then I got her a nice big piece of freezer paper, and set it out on the deck. I had decided that outside was the best environment to induce creativity!

Sugar Bear was looking at me like I was nuts! It took her a little while to understand that I was letting her make a mess, but when she got it....she got it. It was then my turn to "get it!" I had a few hard moments when all she wanted to do was rub the paint between her hands. I kept telling her, "Rub the paint on the paper, honey!" and she just kept smiling and rubbing her hands together joyfully. I found myself thinking....jeez....we could have just done this with lotion or something....at least something less expensive. Yes, I am a cheap-o-holic also.

I am not sure how long I looked on thinking, "this isn't what I expected!" until I started to really pay attention to what my daughter was actually doing. Sugar Bear was engrossed, she was immersed, she was intrigued by the process. How could I forget this one simple thing????? It is more about the process than the product. Watching the process is amazing.....to see the mind working, to feel the heart filling. That is what it is all about. May I never forget this!

Now I can't say, that in the end, I wasn't pretty impressed with the product. Honestly, this kid is the next big thing! Look at the masterpiece! :)

You might be wondering about the clean up.....yeah, you try getting a paint covered two year old through the house and into the bathtub without her touching anything. Let's just say, I hid the paints for awhile. We don't need those darn things tempting us! :)