And now for a brief interruption of my Spring Break recap. Here's a little bit about what's going on with . . . me.
Yup, that's my foot in those Chuck Taylors.
Jacks
I found a classic set of jacks at the store a few weeks ago and Hyrum was fascinated by them--how do you play? how do I scoop up only one at a time? how high do I throw the ball? Fortunately for him, I am a certified jacks pro, and I took a Sunday afternoon to teach my boys the ancient dying art of jacks. It kept them occupied and interested much longer than I thought. An oldie but a goodie--can't play that on the Wii.
Hallucinations
I have always remembered my dreams.
When I was a young girl--between the ages of 9 and 12, I had a recurring dream that Pancho Villa would hold me at gunpoint against our neighbor's barn, place a cigarette between his lips, and ask me what my last wish was before he killed me. Every time, I would wish to pinch myself so that I would wake up. Weird how even in my sleep I knew it wasn't real.
Fast forward to the last few weeks.
I have been suffering from such vivid dreams lately that I have a hard time distinguishing between dream and reality. I dream a discussion with Brad's sister about my mother-in-law's new house, and when I wake up in the morning I don't know if it really happened or not. I dream that I've been asleep but now am awake and Brad has gotten everyone ready for school in my absence, but Micah and Hyrum can't leave until the dishes are done and they are both bawling at the kitchen sink. I dream that James's family comes to visit from New Zealand and we are all squished into my Grandma Tucker's tiny kitchen trying to make food for dozens of people. Upon waking (and even hours later), I struggle to distinguish between fiction and reality. It's been really weird.
These dreams are so vivid that each detail lingers with me long after I'm up and moving through my day. They exhaust me and leave me feeling less rested than the night before. Yesterday morning was so bad that I couldn't get out of bed at all, my body so engaged in a fight with my subconscious to break free from my imagination that I faded in and out of consciousness for over an hour.
Brad's sister asked me if I was pregnant. Brad asked me if I was pregnant. No.
I tried to analyze what was different in my life the last month, and the only straw I found to grasp was allergy season and taking Claritin. I did a quick google search, and what do you know? One of the side effects of Claritin can be vivid dreams. I took my fate into my own hands, and risking the possibility of sneezing and itching and watering and snotting everywhere, I didn't take my Claritin pill yesterday. I felt a little itchy and sneezy, but my sleep last night was much better. I only dreamed that we had to fight the Terminator with our neighbors, but I was able to wrestle consciousness away from Schwarzeneggar and function as Mom this morning. That to me says victory.
Death of Google Reader
Until yesterday, I was unaware that Google Reader will be completely phased out by July. Where have I been? I don't know how to approach this news and I know even less about viable alternatives. Any opinions out there?
Hair Cut
This may sound foreign to most of you women, but I have not had my hair cut since March of 2012. There is a power struggle between me and my hair, and I never win. It's thin (and getting thinner), fine, brown, brittle and lifeless, and rarely can I get it to do anything that will last for long. Two of the best things about my hair? It grows extremely fast, and even though I'm almost 44, I still only have four or five grey hairs (thanks for that gene, Dad). I've never shied away from cutting it (because it does grow so fast), but nothing has motivated me to change it.
Last Thursday, I decided I would once again try to fight my hair's natural tendencies toward boring and get it cut. My long-time stylist left the valley six months ago and I had been reluctant to try anyone new, but you know how you get when you decide your hair needs to be cut--it has to be cut RIGHT THEN! I walked into a strip mall salon and had the stylist cut it. Jury is still out, but I think it's okay. If not, it will grow back. It's just hair.
Flaw Discovered
If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I love to organize. Really love it.
One thing I realized about myself this last week is that I love the challenge of organizing, but I have no instinct to straighten up small messes as they occur. I tend to wait until the kids get home and then I require them to pick up their own messes. While there is merit to personal responsibility, I have found that if I straighten just one or two things every time I enter a room, then I'm happier.
Where has this little nugget of joy been all my life? I'm slow.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . . .
Contrary to my natural tendencies, I have had little to no interest in revamping my house this spring. Normally I'm fussing and changing and moving and redoing little things as the seasons begin to change from warm to blistering hot, but this year that desire has been strangely dormant until last week when I discovered a fun little gem at the auction (shocked, aren't you?).
One thing has led to another, and I will be spending much of my afternoon today turning these gorgeous fabrics above into a few little treasures to spice things up around here. Stay tuned next week for the full reveal.
Enough about me. Tomorrow it's back to the kids.
Yup, that's my foot in those Chuck Taylors. I found a classic set of jacks at the store a few weeks ago and Hyrum was fascinated by them--how do you play? how do I scoop up only one at a time? how high do I throw the ball? Fortunately for him, I am a certified jacks pro, and I took a Sunday afternoon to teach my boys the ancient dying art of jacks. It kept them occupied and interested much longer than I thought. An oldie but a goodie--can't play that on the Wii.
Hallucinations
I have always remembered my dreams.
When I was a young girl--between the ages of 9 and 12, I had a recurring dream that Pancho Villa would hold me at gunpoint against our neighbor's barn, place a cigarette between his lips, and ask me what my last wish was before he killed me. Every time, I would wish to pinch myself so that I would wake up. Weird how even in my sleep I knew it wasn't real.
Fast forward to the last few weeks.
I have been suffering from such vivid dreams lately that I have a hard time distinguishing between dream and reality. I dream a discussion with Brad's sister about my mother-in-law's new house, and when I wake up in the morning I don't know if it really happened or not. I dream that I've been asleep but now am awake and Brad has gotten everyone ready for school in my absence, but Micah and Hyrum can't leave until the dishes are done and they are both bawling at the kitchen sink. I dream that James's family comes to visit from New Zealand and we are all squished into my Grandma Tucker's tiny kitchen trying to make food for dozens of people. Upon waking (and even hours later), I struggle to distinguish between fiction and reality. It's been really weird.
These dreams are so vivid that each detail lingers with me long after I'm up and moving through my day. They exhaust me and leave me feeling less rested than the night before. Yesterday morning was so bad that I couldn't get out of bed at all, my body so engaged in a fight with my subconscious to break free from my imagination that I faded in and out of consciousness for over an hour.
Brad's sister asked me if I was pregnant. Brad asked me if I was pregnant. No.
I tried to analyze what was different in my life the last month, and the only straw I found to grasp was allergy season and taking Claritin. I did a quick google search, and what do you know? One of the side effects of Claritin can be vivid dreams. I took my fate into my own hands, and risking the possibility of sneezing and itching and watering and snotting everywhere, I didn't take my Claritin pill yesterday. I felt a little itchy and sneezy, but my sleep last night was much better. I only dreamed that we had to fight the Terminator with our neighbors, but I was able to wrestle consciousness away from Schwarzeneggar and function as Mom this morning. That to me says victory.
Death of Google Reader
Until yesterday, I was unaware that Google Reader will be completely phased out by July. Where have I been? I don't know how to approach this news and I know even less about viable alternatives. Any opinions out there?
Hair Cut
This may sound foreign to most of you women, but I have not had my hair cut since March of 2012. There is a power struggle between me and my hair, and I never win. It's thin (and getting thinner), fine, brown, brittle and lifeless, and rarely can I get it to do anything that will last for long. Two of the best things about my hair? It grows extremely fast, and even though I'm almost 44, I still only have four or five grey hairs (thanks for that gene, Dad). I've never shied away from cutting it (because it does grow so fast), but nothing has motivated me to change it.
Last Thursday, I decided I would once again try to fight my hair's natural tendencies toward boring and get it cut. My long-time stylist left the valley six months ago and I had been reluctant to try anyone new, but you know how you get when you decide your hair needs to be cut--it has to be cut RIGHT THEN! I walked into a strip mall salon and had the stylist cut it. Jury is still out, but I think it's okay. If not, it will grow back. It's just hair.
Flaw Discovered
If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I love to organize. Really love it.
One thing I realized about myself this last week is that I love the challenge of organizing, but I have no instinct to straighten up small messes as they occur. I tend to wait until the kids get home and then I require them to pick up their own messes. While there is merit to personal responsibility, I have found that if I straighten just one or two things every time I enter a room, then I'm happier.
Where has this little nugget of joy been all my life? I'm slow.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . . .
Contrary to my natural tendencies, I have had little to no interest in revamping my house this spring. Normally I'm fussing and changing and moving and redoing little things as the seasons begin to change from warm to blistering hot, but this year that desire has been strangely dormant until last week when I discovered a fun little gem at the auction (shocked, aren't you?).
One thing has led to another, and I will be spending much of my afternoon today turning these gorgeous fabrics above into a few little treasures to spice things up around here. Stay tuned next week for the full reveal.
Enough about me. Tomorrow it's back to the kids.
I dream like that all the time - always have and sometimes I wake up in complete panic mode - ask Brenn about tattoos... that one still gives me bad moments!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about google reader being phased out, either. Let me know if and when you find out what we should do on our end. I would hate to lose my readers!
ReplyDeleteI am a jacks aficionado, if I do say so myself. Except we used to use golf balls that we had decorated with nail polish to individualize ours from the rest. Playing with a golf ball (hence, more bounce) makes the game even better.
Strange and good to know about the Claritin.
And my hair keeps getting thinner, too. *sigh*
=)
I am hoping someone will have some answers about what they are going to do about Google Reader. It's so convenient. But maybe there will be another source out there that will actually allow us to put our blogs in alphabetical order. That would be even better.
ReplyDeleteFirst, kind of embarrassed that I'm not really sure what google reader is? Do I use it and not know the name?
ReplyDeleteSecond, I know exactly what you mean when you finally make the decision to get a haircut...you must do it right away...too funny.
Third, your jacks picture is pretty darn cool.
Fourth, love your fabric!
Lastly, I hope your hallucinations were from your allergy medicine and they stay away! No fun.
I think I've commented here a couple of times before, but wanted to mention that Pseudoephedrine does that to me with the dreams! So crazy! I just know I can't take it before bed, period. My hubby has had a cold and this afternoon he said he hasn't been sleeping. Taking Pseudofed? Yep. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteGlad you figured it out, at least!
Ashley @ www.seekthegreen.com
It's a good think you figured out the Claritin association - you need your sleep!
ReplyDeleteI am one of those who doesn't know what Google Reader is. Do I have it and not know it? I don't think I use it on my end.
Ugh. The dream thing is irritating to me, too. It seems I dream ALL night long and don't get enough deep sleep. I think it's something to do with perimenopause and my hormones getting wacked out.
ReplyDelete