I Am One Walmart Trip Away From A House Coat

I am obsessed with our hardwood floors.  We had hardwood floors at our old house, but they were a light wood, so they hid dirt and dust pretty good.  Our new floors are a dark wood and I obsessed with them.  Not obsessed in the sense that they need to be spotless.  With three kids, I just can't afford to be a spotless type lady. 

When I say obsessed, I mean that you can see EVERYTHING on these floors.  If you wear shoes, you see the dusty imprint of the shoe.  If you go barefoot, often times you can see footprints on the floor.  When my husband is in a hurry and forgets something and runs back in the house with his shoes on, I make no eye contact...I just stare at his shoes.  His response is always the same.  He looks at me, focuses in on the eyes, looks down at his shoes and then says "WHAT?"

So, I have been talking with my lady friends about floor cleaners.  Water and vinegar is a nice option, but I think it stinks.  I have heard from two friends (thanks Ali and Sunny) that Bona is the best on dark hardwood.  I was told to go to Walmart to get it.  I like Super Target, but when I know that something that I need is somewhere specific...I don't mess around.  So, I got in my car and drove directly to Walmart to pick up Bona.

When I am in Walmart, I don't like to fool around.  I get in and I get out.  BUT, the cleaning product aisle is kind of big and they really carry a wide selection of cleaning tools.  For instance, check these out...

  On the top they look like slippers, but underneath they are like little mops.  Now, everytime I spot a footprint or shoeprint with my hawk-like eyeball, I can slide over and clean it up with my slippers.  My husband is worried that I am going to buy everyone a pair and make my family wear them around the house.

So, we are sitting in the living room and I had my new sloppers (I just made that up) on...sort of kicked up on the ottoman.  My husband thinks I am crazy anyway, so it is fine when he looked at me like I was crazy and said "you really like those new slippers, huh?"  Well, I bent over a little and kind of grabbed one off my foot, when all of a sudden the mop part seperated from the slipper part.  VELCRO!!!!

You can pull the Velcro completely off of the slipper.  I realize that my life is not all that crazy these days and I can be somewhat boring, but come on, that was pretty exciting!  Right in the washer.  Good as new.

The Baseball Park Rat

Our lives are in a state of constant movement all of the time.  Two boys, one year apart, in two different baseball leagues equals stuff going on all of the time.  Both boys either have practice or a game every night of the week.  I wouldn't want it any other way, but it does tend to get crazy around our house.

I know I am not alone.  I have so many great friends that are just as busy (some even busier).  They understand when I tell them that I ended up in the wrong parking lot with the right kid at the wrong practice.  There are some things that even a well mapped out calendar can't help.  Sometimes it takes a moment of tears on the steering wheel, re-grouping and moving on.  I AM the weak link in the carpool.  Well, we all survive these moments of madness and when it comes right down to it, there is nothing better than watching your kids do what they love.

With that being said, I would like to take a moment to recognize the baseball park rat.  I was one (hats off to Beaverdale Little League).  I roamed the ballpark while my brothers played ball.  I spent all of my money at the concession stand.  I idolized Melissa Chacon, one of the first girls to play baseball on the boys baseball team.  I was filthy every night from the dusty parking lot and had a gang of friends who were also ballpark rats.  Hanging out at the ballpark got baseball in my blood and inspired me to be an athlete.

Well, I am proud to say that my daughter is now a ballpark rat.  She has been a football park rat and a basketball court rat as well.  It doesn't really matter what sport the boys are playing or where they are at, it always shakes out the same.

We pack snacks.  We arrive at the game.  Molly sits with me for about 2 minutes and then is off with her pack of friends playing in the park, bleachers or waiting for a nearby game to end, so she can get in line for team snacks.  She has learned to wait silently in the shadows until other kids wander up to claim what is left once the kids on the team have gotten their snacks.

This is Molly's life in a nutshell.  She gets off the bus after school. We eat dinner at around 4:15pm, in a panic.  We head out the door to drop someone off at practice, only to head over to the other one's game.  As usual, when the boys both have games, I play a zone defense (Molly and Daniel), while Jake plays a man to man (he coaches Cal's baseball team). 

Each night is a complete surprise to Molly that we have to leave to go to a game.  I say that we need to hurry up.  She asks where we are going and when I tell her, she complains about going.  Most nights she runs upstairs to put on something spectacular for the game. This is also the same lady that we have to beg to leave the park once the game is over.  She is a trooper.  She is a strong lady and so this is why I take the time to recognize the baseball park rat.

Hats off to you and your gang of little brothers and sisters that show up to every game and do the same thing all over again.  We cheer for your older siblings, but you deserve a moment of recognition as well.  It is almost your turn.  I wonder what we will be adding to our already crazy sports calendar in the future.  You better believe that we will make sure your brothers will be cheering you on!



I Can Show You Right Where to Find Those.

My husband loves to talk about our kids, trips we have taken, our family, what we are going to do when we retire, etc.  My husband rarely goes into detail about his day.  I ask how it was and he usually says "it was ok".  Sometimes I dig a little and ask questions about people I know at his office and at that point he may expand on his day and share something interesting that happened.  Most of the time, it is normal stuff that happens at offices...American Idol pool, special of the day at the cafeteria, his travel schedule, etc.  He really enjoys his job, so I often wonder if he had to expand on what he does or what happened it might take too long to dumb it down for me.

He asks me how my day is and I let it rip.  Not too many details are left out.  More times than not he tells me that odd things tend to happen to me.  It is a known fact that complete strangers are drawn to me and my stories end up involving some random person that has approched me somewhere.  I know there is truth to this.  I get this from both parents.

Today I was at Super Target.  I was minding my own business shopping for file folders for my office.  A lady in her mid-fifties rounds the corner and comes into the office supply aisle.  She seems distracted, but looks up at me and starts talking.  At first I didn't think she was talking to me, so I looked around.

I realized that she was indeed talking to me and she was asking where the water filters were.  It was kind of weird.  But, random people talk to me.  I was fine with it.  I did wonder why she very boldly and confidently asked me where something was located though.  Did she know how much I shop here? No, I looked down and noticed that I was wearing a red shirt.  I also then noticed that she was kind of snotty and talking down to me and was sort of demanding that I tell her where the filters were and she was staring at me waiting for my answer.

It just so happened that I had been looking at some tumblers a few minutes earlier in the same area as the water pitchers and water pitcher filters, so I did know where to send her.  I said "well, I was just looking at some tumblers a few aisles over and noticed those very filters next to the water pitchers".  At that moment I saw her eyes truly focus for the first time since she rounded the corner.  She gave me the up/down and I could see that she then noticed my purse and she realized that I didn't work at Super Target.  She seemed downright offended that I given her directions to the filters and said "I THOUGHT YOU WORKED HERE!"  And then she took off around the corner.

I saw her three more times in the last 5 minutes of my time at Super Target.  When I went to check out the wrapping paper, we bumped into each other.  When I went to grab some Sharpie Markers, we crossed paths.  At the check out line, she shot past me.  All three times she completely ignored me and acted like she never seen my red shirt before.  I did notice that she had the water filter in her hand. Customer service is a priority for me, so that made me happy. 

Bright Ideas

The other day I was just sitting, looking out my front window and noticed two teenage boys standing in the neighbor's yard.  They looked too young to drive, but old enough to be bored with life.  The kind of bored that makes you come up with genius ideas to entertain yourself that border on possible bodily harm.

They were standing on the opposite side of the driveway from the other one.  They had a big rubber ball.  The rubber wasn't as thick as the kind that you used in dodgeball in school, but the same size.  Maybe a little more lightweight.  They were bouncing it and throwing it back and forth to each other. 

I was kind of moving around, doing some things but I kept looking out the window at them from time to time.  All of a sudden there was a little more organization to what they were doing.  Maybe that is what caught my eye.  Since they were across the street and down a ways, I had no idea what they were saying, but it became obvious quickly.  From my seat, I could see that the rules of the game were that the guy without the ball had to stand still with his hands at his side (without protecting himself with his hands) and let the fella with the ball take his best shot.  I have two brothers, so I am familiar with this game.  It either ends in laughter or you spend a ton of time trying to catch the person that just threw the ball at you, so that you can kill them.

So, tall, lanky teenage boy #1 gets in position with his hands at his side, waiting for the ball to come at him.  Shaggy haired, stocky boy #2 winds up and throws the rubber ball directly at his friend.  He nails him straight in the face.  Boy #1's head whips back from impact.  Both boys are bent over laughing so hard that I am now laughing out loud by myself in my house.

After a few minutes of laughing and what appears to be a little smack talk, the ball is thrown over to teenage boy #2.  Teenage boy #1 gets in position with his hands at his side.  Boy #2 winds up and delivers an extremely fast and accurate throw and hits Boy #1 directly in the crotch.  Boy #1 falls to the ground.  I have tears running down my face from laughing so hard.

I am not sure what happened after that, as my three ran in the door from school.  The last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to the teenage boys and prematurely introduce this game to my kids.  They have enough bright ideas on their own.  Plus, as I naturally learned this game with my own brothers, so will they.  No need to rush into things.

So far, I like my new neighborhood.