Give Grace

I had an "a-ha" moment the other day. Last Sunday morning, I woke up to a text from my dad that said, "Look what I got for Father's Day!" along with this picture:

In case you can't tell, that's a huge tree that fell between my parents house (right above their bedroom) and their garage apartment - where two of my brothers and two of their friends were sleeping.

My immediate thought was, "Holy shit, they cannot catch a break!"

And then I got to thinking, they caught a huge break. If that tree had fallen a few feet in either direction, someone could have been killed. Someone would have been killed.

Ever since, my way of thinking has been significantly altered.

A few days ago, some ladies on twitter were discussing their distaste for complaining. One girl had hurt feelings when other people complained about their pregnancies. Another was jealous when ladies complained about their husbands because she wants so badly to be married.

And again, I started thinking.

Yes, those things are awful. It must be horrible to want a partner in life and not be able to find "the one." And I can only imagine a few things worse than wanting a baby and not being able to have one.

So when I was showering last night and started to think of my upcoming 30th birthday and I got a little sad, I tried to think of how others would see it.

My friend Kim would have done anything to have a 30th birthday. Hell, all she wanted was to wear a bikini ONE more time. Just once. How often do I complain about my body? ALL. THE. TIME. But at least I can wear a bathing suit.

And when I went for a run and I wanted to complain about how out of shape I am and how my legs rub together, I thought of my friend with Cerebral Palsy. You know, I've never heard her complain that she isn't able to run. Or my sister who only has 1.5 lungs, but she still runs.

There are things we can all complain about. And any given person at any given time can find a reason to think you're ungrateful for that.

But you know what? That's life.

Give yourself some grace. Give that other girl some grace.

Everyone needs to vent occasionally. Are you really in a friendship with someone if you can't talk honestly to them? I think not. Are you really in a friendship with someone if you're going to judge them when they are honest? I say no.

Yes, the grass on the other side of the fence may be greener. But you know what? That grass is fertilized with horse shit.

Random thoughts...

I keep feeling the urge to blog, but then something stops me. Sometimes it's because I want to vent about a fight I've had with Mike, and that probably isn't appropriate (although it sure as hell would be funny).

About three times a week I realize I need to do a house update, but it's always during nap time, and I leave my camera in Bellie's room (she likes to play with it while she's getting her diaper changed).

But most times it's because I feel like I have to spend these precious naptime hours cleaning this darn house. Y'all, I HATE when people tweet things like, "OMG, I haven't vacuumed in three days. This house is so messy!" But, OMG. These hardwood floors are KILLING ME. They really do have to be vacuumed like every other day - especially with dogs. The hair just starts to float around, and it backs up in corners and on the stairs. So gross!

Anyhow, now that y'all know all about my dirty house, here are some other random thoughts floating through my mind.

1. Renters are in the townhouse. I'm so grateful we only had to pay two mortgages for one month! However, our new tenants are going to be a handful. It's a couple with a child, and the wife is extremely Type-A. And aggressive. And despite being from Florida, she has a LOT of Northern traits. Just totally different from me, and our communication styles are different. As long as she pays her rent, right?
2. There's a rumor going around that Mike and I may take a little trip to Vegas!!! I have never been, and Mike's been once (he loved it). It's supposed to be a "Thank you Mary Adelaide for packing all my ish and moving our family into our new house without me having to lift a darn finger" trip. But I always thought trips that were given to you were supposed to be planned/booked by the giver. It's looking like I'm going to have to plan/book ours because someone else keeps forgetting. (Ooops, is that a hint of a recent fight??? hahaha! Obviously, we have BIG problems here at the Businesses!) Anyone have any Vegas tips? We want to see Elton John while we're there!
3. This week has been a great week. I've really, really struggled with being lonely since I started staying at home. I love Small Biz, but she's not the best conversationalist. We had lunch dates Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week! Tuesday and Wednesday were with friends we've had for a while, but Monday's was spur of the moment with a new friend we've met at Baby Storytime and her twins! Extra plus, she lives in our neighborhood!
4. Baby Storytime has been a saving grace for us. It's through our county's library; I highly recommend it for anyone who has kids. Even if you don't stay at home, they offer it on weekends. It's not really a storytime either. We actually just sing songs and read one short story at the end. Bellie absolutely loves it, and we've even taught some of the songs to Mike.
5. We had a moth problem in our kitchen, but I think it's solved! I'm absolutely terrified of moths, so this was a big problem for me! I finally vacuumed the top of the cabinet where the moths were coming from, and within 24 hours, they were gone. I read online that there may be cocoons at the top. I couldn't see any, but I figured it was worth a shot. It worked!
6. I am so ready for Spring, I can hardly handle it. I hate, hate, hate wearing jeans, so I have been living in leggings lately, and I'm ready for some pretty skirts and dresses. We're almost there - I can feel it!
7. We received two wedding invites in the mail this week, and I am thrilled! The weddings are on the same weekend, but one is a Saturday wedding in Raleigh and one is on Sunday in Wilmington, so I think we can swing both!
8. I also received an invite to a bridal shower for a girl I went to college with. We weren't very close at Peace, but we've reconnected this past year. I feel so honored that she included me on the guest list for her shower, and I am thrilled to attend! 
9. Re-reading this post, I'm reminded how hard it is to make friends post-college. I am so thankful for the great friends I have, but I am so thrilled to begin new friendships too. It's such a blessing.
10. It's Friday - yay for weekends! Anyone have any fun plans?

And seriously, if you have any Vegas tips, shoot them my way!

Every parent has a moment...

Every parent has a moment when they realize their child isn't perfect.

(Bellie, if you're 10 and reading this, know that I love you very much. And you don't want to be perfect - there's no fun in that!)

But yesterday, I had a new realization.

My husband must be a secret member of al-Qaeda. Because my child is for sure part terrorist.

Holy hell. One moment she was screaming, the next she was laughing like a crazy loon.

I love you baby, but for real?

It turns out she's teething. And these teeth aren't for the faint of heart.

When Mike texted me he was on his way home last night - around 5 pm, this is the picture I sent back:

Here's to hoping today is better!

If anyone's looking for a house to rob...

I offer you my basement.

It is OUT. OF. CONTROL.

There must be a gazillion boxes down there - and that's hardly an exaggeration.

I would post a picture...but I'm too embarrassed.

I keep walking down there, looking around, walking around. Bending over to open a box to see if it's anything I want to unpack. It's not, so I close it, and walk around some more. Then I walk upstairs to do dishes, laundry, vacuum...pretty much anything that will make me feel less guilty about not working in the basement.

I'll probably take a picture and add it to this later. Maybe that'll guilt me into cleaning up down there???

I doubt it.

Humph.

So, if you know any seasoned criminals, please send them my way.

We're alive!

We're here, we're alive! I forgot to call Time Warner Cable before we moved though, so we won't have cable or Internet until Monday. (I am dying!!)

I just figured out Blogger has an iPhone app, so I thought I'd send a quick update.

We're almost all moved in to the new house...we still have some small things we need to bring from the townhouse, but we're not hurrying.

On the day our movers came for the furniture, one of our neighbors saw the truck and came over to ask of we'd be renting the townhouse. (the people who own the one they're currently renting are moving back to Raleigh.) After a few conversations, we were able to settle on a price, and we are so excited to have that taken care of! It was a big blessing.

In other news, we thought Bunker had gotten kennel cough at doggie daycare, but she has pneumonia. Apparently she has an abnormality called megaesophagus - which so far is a nightmare. Her esophagus is stretched out and won't push food to her stomach. So for the rest of her life, she has to be hand fed or fed from an elevated surface. (Same goes for water.) The theory is, if she eats with her neck held high, gravity will pull the food to her stomach. Otherwise, she may regurgitate the food, causing her to aspirate and get pneumonia again. She also has to be fed 4-5 times a day, and she has to have a dry/wet food mixture made into meatballs.

I'm really nervous for her though. This disease seems pretty dangerous, and I don't want her to be sick all the time. The doctor warned us last night that we need to be prepared for some serious (vet) hospital visits and that it's not uncommon for dogs with this condition to need oxygen from time to time.

So if y'all don't mind, please keep Bunker in your prayers!

I am exhausted!

Y'all, I am worn out. Like worn the eff out. I have no idea why I'm awake right now...other than I'm so wired, I can't turn it off.

So, we had the ceilings scraped last week, and I am so glad all of the popcorn is gone from the ceilings! But man, did it leave a mess! Mike and I spent all day yesterday on our hands and needs with swiffer cloths and sponge mops trying to pick up the dust. Truly, ALL day. We started at 10am and didn't get back to our town house until 7:30pm.

We finally realized we couldn't pick up all the dust, and we were going to have to live with it!

Mike's mom came Saturday afternoon, and I am so grateful to have her here. She spent all day with Bellie yesterday making sure she was fed, well slept and happy. Today, she and I packed up a day's worth of supplies - for Bellie and us - and we lined all of the kitchen and bathroom cabinets at the new house! Tomorrow, we're packing up dishes and setting up the new kitchen!

Anyhow, it's my bedtime. I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow!

A blog style guide?

Do y'all have a personal blog style guide you use? Like, do you have a specific way you capitalize your titles? Or do you put one or two spaces at the end of a sentence? Do you bold face or italicize links? Do you have a specific way you write captions or style captions?

Or are those completely weird questions and you've never thought about any of that?

Every time I sit down to write a blog post, those are the weird little things I question. It takes me forever to write one because each time I wonder, "Is that how I did it last time?"

All through college - and for the 4.5 years since I graduated - I've written in AP style; however, I don't love AP style for blogs. I generally like each word in my title to start with an uppercase letter. I like my links bold.

Would I be a total freak if I made myself a document to refer back to? Yes? Oh well - I'm probably going to do it anyways!

What little idiosyncrasies bother you on your own blog or when you read others?