All About Me

Well, I guess this won't really be all about me. But it will be all about the things I want to write about.

For starters, Jane and I had a slumber party tonight. Matt's gone for the weekend, so we partied after Jack went to bed. She didn't go to bed until 11:30! And that was when she decided she was too scared in my room (even though I was with her) and asked if she could sleep in her bed. We watched Sleeping Beauty (scarier than even the gigantic octopus scene of The Little Mermaid), ate junk food, played a memory game, and painted nails. And we cuddled per her request. She told me her favorite part was watching the movie and cuddling. And after her usual nightly routine of good nights, she changed it up a bit and said, "I love you so much." Then I said, "I love you so much." and she informed me that I needed to say "I love you so much too." So I did.

I guess now is good a time as any to document Jane's obsessive compulsion to say her nightly script verbatim. If she messes up a word she will start the whole thing over. And no, I'm not saying this like it's cute. I realize this could actually be a problem. But for now it's quirky and needs to be remembered. It goes like this. Hug. Kiss. "I love you." (I love you, too). "I won't have the four (used to be 3 until she recently had another one) bad dreams that I had yesterday, and I won't have any other bad dreams or any good dreams? To which you must respond, "No, not as long as you stay in bed." Then you can say goodnight. We have tried not allowing her to repeat the entire spiel when she messes up, but it can get ugly, and since she's usually saying this to us while Jack is asleep in the same room we try to avoid the ugly.

I've been meaning to talk about this for awhile now. Texting while driving. It's insane, isn't it? I have been guilty in the past. Like, I have started one while at a red light, and then finished it while in motion. Horrible, and really stupid. So I signed this pledge. (here). It was from an Oprah show that I never saw about accidents that happened due to phone use while driving. I actually pledged not to use my phone at all while driving. And I have stayed true to my pledge. I will admit, though, I have been hesitant to bring this up because I like that my BFF Monique calls me while she's in the car. I would never hear from her if she decided to take this same pledge. But in all reality, it's a good idea! With kids AND a phone I am just too darn distracted.

Does anyone else think reheated chicken is absolutely disgusting? It takes on such a strong "chicken" taste I can't even eat it. Oh, it's so gross.

I borrowed a friend's Kitchen Aid stand mixer last weekend. I had so much fun. I need one really, really bad. I plan on entering as many blog giveaways for stand mixers as I can. And I may or may not have prayed that I would win one.

I meant to include this in my post about Jack's party, but completely forgot. I just assumed everyone knew that only 10% of what I do actually comes from my own original thoughts. And my friend Shauna was my sounding board for Jack's party and gave me lots of cute ideas. So, there, Shauna, I gave you credit, are you happy now?

A friend of mine recently sent me a message telling me she had gone to my blog and caught up on my life. And she asked all about my herniated disc situation and if I was getting better. And so I went back and skimmed a few posts I had written about the whole ordeal. And it really reminded me of just how bleak things seemed to me for a little while. I really thought I would forever be "limited" in my daily activities and exercise. And I wrote, after deciding to be positive about the surgery outcome, "I know my nerve pain will heal and that I'll be "active" again." And now I totally feel like that has happened! I rarely ever feel my sciatic nerve. Only occasionally when I'm balled up and move my chin to my chest. But not when I'm sitting or anything. AND I'm "active." I still can't run/probably shouldn't run, but I've been doing some weight training, swimming, walking, pilates, and SPIN CLASS. That's capitalized because it's freaking awesome! So many of the elements of what I loved about running are included in spin class! Intervals, tempos, sprints, hills, pushing yourself harder than you thought you could. And it's the only thing since running that makes me feel like I have just worked out HARD. Although, to be honest, not quite as hard as you can get from an intense running workout. But I am just so grateful to have been blessed with such a good recovery from the surgery.

Here's a doozie of a story. I was making dinner. Jane was with me in the kitchen and Jack was off playing around the house. He was keeping himself well-occupied so I was happy. For about 10+ minutes I kept hearing a tinking sound. I couldn't think of what he could possibly be playing with that makes that sound, but I didn't dare show my face to him out of fear that it would ruin the good thing we had going. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I peeked into the family room. There I found Jack sitting next to the glass from a 10x15" frame. It was completely broken and Jack was holding two large shards of broken glass tinking it against the other pieces of broken glass. And all he had was two tiny cuts on the top of one foot. I said a prayer right then and there that I was so thankful that Jack had not been injured. I feel so blessed. And so bad for having left that in a place he could get to. I had painted a frame a long time ago before he was so mobile, never assembled it back together, and left the project sitting on top of crates, under a desk and behind a chair.

My 20-something year old niece showed me this funny video from youtube. And we then watched it several times at the Jespersen Family Reunion to practice for our interaction with the oldest Jespersen son, Byron. (Only because his name is Byron). If you don't think it's funny you should watch it again, because surely you will think it's funny the second time.