We've moved!

Until I can get my archives moved to the new location, I am not redirecting this site. Once everything is moved, if you type this address, you will go to the new location.

The Johnson Family Update is now how to Life on Both Sides of the Pond and The Boy.

Funny Story

For Christmas, my parents (dad and step-mom) gave me a gift card. I ordered the items online, due to its ease relative to taking a two year old to a store. It was for Victoria's Secret, and in my mind, I would have ended up chasing a two year old around the store in nothing but pants and a bra.  Not a good dream...for me anyway.

I ordered online. I was checking out and thought I had hit the nail on the head, but when tax and shipping were added, I was one cent over the value of the gift card. I actually contemplated if I should remove an item or pay the one cent. Well Friday, the penny posted to my bank account and I got a good laugh.

It cost VS more to processes my penny than they recieved in payment, but they did it anyway.

A win and a pause

First, Kevin's team knocked off the number one team yesterday. He's modest enough not to post it here, but I wanted to give him and his team a shout out for a great win! Kevin told me he also played well, so that's a nice addition as well.

And the pause. I am probably going to be posting a little less often on this blog for a week or two. Well, as soon as the new site is up and running, I will be pausing, because I will need to work on transferring everything over. That's right. There is going to be a new site. It will house this blog and The Boy's, with The Boy's remaining by log-in only, and some additional pages and fun stuff. I am really excited about the project, and I am certain everyone will love it. And if you don't, too bad. Ha ha!

Enjoy your weekend. I know I will. Seventy degrees = park time!

Negativity and a Positive Attitude

Lately I have been reading fewer and fewer blogs. It is not that I do not think many provide valuable information, but my Google Reader count was causing me undo stress! Every time I'd log on, I'd be further and further behind. I have found that un-subscribing was a good thing for me to do, because I am now able to stay caught up with what I am subscribed to and I am still getting the information that is important to me. There were really just a few blogs that were piling up, and I made the decision that if you had twenty plus posts accumulating in my Reader, I was not really reading the blog anyway. 

The second reason I unsubscribed to some blogs-- the authors were too negative and/or manic depressant. It seems as though some people enjoy writing every other or more often whining about his/her life, never doing something to change the situation or writing the extreme highs and lows. I am NOT trying to say that blogs should be positive all of the time, nor am I trying to control what people write about, but I am controlling what I read. I found that negative blogs were impacting me negatively, so as much as I might enjoy checking in on the author(s), it was time for an internet breakup of sorts. It was hard to do, but it had to be done.

Where am I going with all of this? 

Bottom Line Up Front -- I am working on de-stressing my own life and finding the things I truly enjoy, and that means acknowledging that I cannot be all things to all people;  my interests change; and less actually is more. I am pinpointing things that no longer work with my life. 

Have you ever tried to de-clutter your life? What did it look like? How was it? Did you stick to it?

Sometimes I Wonder...

Sometimes I wonder if I invite confrontation. Yes, I disagree to keep debates and discussions moving, but as far as every day life, I am a happy, friendly, outgoing person. However, I also believe in certain order and following the rules. I use my blinker when no one is around. I stop for the red light when there is no traffic for miles. I do not park in no-parking zones, and (the cause of this morning's confrontation) I keep the drop-off lane at daycare/preschool open for people to drive through.

Here is what happened.

I was driving north, waiting patiently to make the left turn in to the ten minute parking outside The Boy's school. Another parent (mom #2) was in front of me also waiting to turn left to park. A third parent (mom-in-pink) was blocking us from turning left by stopping in the no parking area of the circle drive. Mom #2 turned in to the drive, with her rear still in the street, which forced mom-in-pink to pull up. Mom-in-pink, however, only moved enough for mom #2 to barely get out of traffic. Mom #2 continued to creek closer and closer to mom-in-pink, but mom-in-pink barely moved. I continued to wait...and wait... and became a bit impatient, so I honked my horn.

After waiting for the next round of south-bound traffic to clear, I turned left in to the lot. Mom-in-pink still was not moving, so I honked again. OK, maybe twice. Finally she zoomed off to park in the big lot. Mom #2 lucked out and got a 10 minute parking spot, and I went on to the big lot as well. What did I find waiting for me? Mom-in-pink. And she was not yelling pleasantries! After being told how rude I am and being scolded like a I would never scold my child, I told her that she was rude for stopping the through traffic and creating a dangerous situation in the lot. She could have easily pulled through to the big lot, etc. Her reply was someone was leaving... to which I replied for the time that we waited, she could have pulled through and made it easier for everyone rather than leaving people with their tails in traffic or waiting to make a left turn. She was PARKED in the through traffic lane after all.

It was ugly and not one of my shining moments (at least I left my child in the car-- unlike her), but it left me wondering, why do some people think the rules do not apply to them?

I spoke to the Director of the childcare and asked that she put out a reminder becasue this was not the first time in the last month this had happened. Well, it was the first time for the verbal arguement, but not the first time someone parked in the drive inappropriately. She asked me which parent it was, and I told her it was mom-in-pink. She asked me one question and then replied, "I have spoken to her before about stopping."

Ah, the joys of mommy-hood.

So... why do some people think the rules need not apply to them? I have ideas, but let me tell you, I will be raising my son to know that he does need to follow the rules...even when no one is looking. Hopefully he does it too.

A Life Lesson

Erin has been writing about some life lessons she learned on a recent trip, and one struck my fancy. OK, several struck me, but this one brought up a memory that I sometimes wish I would forget, but I can't help but laugh at as I remember.

Back in high school, I went to the National Young Leaders Conference. It was a very big deal to me, and I received a scholarship and some funding from the local Lions Club in order to attend.

It was the first time I had flown somewhere alone-- to a big city. You all know the town I grew up in had like 2000 people in it, right? I was in awe-- the kids there were bright and many were far more worldly than I was, though I had been to Germany the year before with the high school German Club. None the less...

Our first night, we gathered in an auditorium. It was really like a theatre with the sloped walkway and seating and a stage at the front. The lady gave an interesting speech on the arts, and I had a question. We were instructed to gather in the aisles with our questions, so I did just that. I waited my turn... quite patiently I might add... repeating my question to myself so I wouldn't get up to the microphone and forget.

It was finally my turn.

I walked up to the microphone-- confident on the outside, a mess on the inside-- and promptly stepped on the base of the stand causing the microphone to smack me in the face.

Oh, how I wish I were kidding. There were over five hundred people in that room-- all staring at me-- so I did the only thing I knew I could do.

I laughed at myself.

Everyone else laughed too, and from that point on, I would introduce myself to people, and they would say, "Oh, you're that girl who walked in to the microphone on the first night." I would reply sheepishly (at first), "Yes, that was me." The other person almost always said, "That was so cool how you laughed at yourself. I would have cried and ran from the room."

Ten years later, I remember it in that much detail. I also remember what I was wearing, but I'll spare you all!

My point, and Erin's too-- Don't take yourself or life too seriously!

Winter illnesses continue

The Boy went to see his doctor tonight, and he does have an ear infection in his right ear. His tube in the left ear is still functioning. (The right tube fell out in December.) He also has a sinus infection. Needless to say, I will be not be taking my trip Tuesday/Wednesday. I will be keeping him home from school tomorrow too so he can have a little extra time to rest and recover.

Torn...

Being a working mother with my husband in another country can be a real challenge. While some working families are able to trade-off, the responsibility falls on me, and I am fine with that... most of the time. I'd love a break like anyone else, but I also know that a break for me would end after a couple of hours... then I'd like to have my son around again. LOL!

Today has been a challenge in the balancing work and home regards though. The Boy has had a cold for a few days, and this morning it appeared to be worse again. He has also begun pulling on his ear a bit. Normally, this is not a cause for any stress. I monitor the situation and take off work as necessary.

Only this time is different.

I am supposed to leave early tomorrow morning to go on an overnight trip for work. I have someone lined up to care for The Boy, but I refuse to leave him with a friend overnight when he is sick.

I have an appointment for him to go to the doctor this evening at 520. If he has an ear infection, I will stay home. If not, I will go.

It's times like these though when I am truly torn. If he were all out sick, the decision would be easy. If he were perfectly healthy, the decision would be easier. (It's never easy to leave him overnight.) Instead, I am in this state of flux!

I'll let you all know what the doc says.

Little ditty

"I love cooo-oookies."

Heard during the Super Bowl tonight... Slong with a bunch of other gems. I love how The Boy sees the world.

MWJ from the Q

Struggles and Successes

This past week ended with a bang-- and not of the positive style. This is how it went down.

My workload has been rather great these days, as we are down one full-time economist. Really, my job is to supervise and direct the junior economists, but we have just one part time student. He does a great job, but we've been down a man for a while, and it's starting to wear on me. Then on Thursday a student from another Division dropped by. He was terminated via email, which really got my mind realing. I mean, who fires someone by email? It was a very unprofessional way to handle the situation and soured my afternoon a bit. Anyway...

I left work and picked up The Boy, who was cranky and clingy. He has a cold, so it is to be expected. I convinced him that we should go to church so he could see his friends, but his friends weren't there, and he had a major seperation episode. Like, I could let go of him and his little legs were wrapped around me so tight it was uncomfortable for me. So, rather than traumatizing the child, I took him to the book group table with me where he continued to cling, but then became vocal, so I decided it would be best if we just left. He, however, decided that he didn't want to go bye-bye, so we had a bit of a power struggle, which of course, I won since we left. Right? Anyway... He cried the entire way home, and I finally got him settled and in bed.

Of course there is a lesson here-- I should have paid closer attention to his cues and kept him home. I put my own interests ahead of his and paid the price. It reminds me a lot of my relationship with God. I really need to be still and listen, but sometimes I falter.

Friday night was also a disaster-- without going anywhere. The Boy shunned me and cried for two hours. I felt so badly. I knew he was miserable from his cold and didn't want to nurse, because he couldn't breath very well. Of course, by Friday I had his cold and was a bit cranky too.

Saturday, however, was a success. He had pictures in the morning, which I am convinced were a flop, but I am hoping they were not. He woke up from his nap cranky, but I sang to him and snuggled and the world got better. We headed to the park, which was a lot of fun-- for both of us. Well, except for the part where I had to wade in to ice cold water to retrieve that prized red ball from the stream.

Yes, it was freezing, icy, snowy and all that earlier in the week and seventy yesterday. Go figure.

Leaving the park is always a fight, but we had a blast last night together.

The key to our success yesterday (and today so far) is the focus on giving him the attention he so desperately wants and needs. With Kevin away and no siblings, I need to remember that I am his mama and his playmate!

And so... until later.

Talking in his sleep

The Boy talks in his sleep. I don't know if I have told people that before, but he does. It took me a bit to learn when he was awake and needed attention versus was talking in his sleep, but for the most part I have it down now. Thursday morning was no exception, and here is how his sleep talking went down.

I woke up early and thought-- hey, I'll grab my laptop and blog from bed. All the benefits of blogging, all the warm toes of bed. A little while in to the writing, The Boy starts talking. Eventually he asks for his baby doll, so I grab the doll from the foot of the bed and give it to him, figuring it will cause him to let go of my arm which I assumed he thought was his doll. I removed my arm and replaced it with the doll, and he says "thank you mama"  and goes on talking and snuggling his baby. Precious.

Cue melting heart.

Saturday

Saturday will be The Boy's first pictures by someone other than Sheri. I admit to my nervousness, but it will be May before I get to Minnesota and 2 1/2 year pictures would mean skipping 2 year pictures, which does not cut it for me.

On the other hand, I can not wait. He is so photogenic, I can not imagine they won't be great. :)

Stay tuned...

Cauliflower PLUS soup

A couple of weeks ago, I made The Pioneer Woman's (TPW) Cauliflower soup. 

Before I go on, if you like good food, follow her blog. She's amazing and about to publish a cookbook.

Anyway, I made the soup and LOVED it. I could have sucked it through a straw or never swallowed, whichever would allow the flavors to stay in my mouth forever. None the less, I thought-- what if I added this or that, would it still be amazing? The answer is YES!

Cauliflower, Potato & Corn Soup

You need all of the stuff Ree has listed (printable version) minus the chicken stock (I prefer to use veggie bouillon cubes) plus an additional carrot, 1.5 pounds potatoes, and 2 cups or so of corn. I admit, I don't measure.

Chop up carrot, onion and celery.

Slice up the potatoes. (I should have made mine smaller...)

Follow TPW's directions, adding the potatoes after the other veggies. I added the corn last. I used frozen corn that my mom and I froze last fall. It's amazingly tasty! Also add parsley. Last time I used fresh stuff, but I didn't have any this time. Oh well...

Go back to following  TPW's directions. I added a little extra half and half. I used whipping cream and two percent milk last time. Half and Half with skim milk this time. Next time I'm going for the creme again.

The Boy ate three bowls. Not kidding, it's that good.