LYE

Not to be confused with the caustic chemical used in making soap, LYE refers to my new philosophy about life: Lower Your Expectations.

I got the idea from my mom one day during a tearful phone call about how my house was (is) a mess, my baby wouldn't (won't) sleep, and my bed wasn't (isn't) made. Actually, my baby IS asleep at the moment and my bed does happen to be made, but we'll get to that.

Anyway, my mom said, "So your bed isn't made. So what? I heard a story about this very happy woman who, when asked why she was so happy, said 'I've lowered my expectations.' It's hard to do, but you can do it!"

I've thought a lot about this idea, and I have to say I'm beginning to wholeheartedly agree.

Now I'm not advocating that I shouldn't require anything of myself (or others), but as one who chronically expects super-human feats from just about everything with a pulse, I think it would be wise for me to just chill out and LYE a little - while still doing the best I can.

And for the record, the "best I can" on most days means taking a shower and keeping the baby alive.

So no more crying over the unmade bed, no more nail-biting, guilt-ridden angst over the unfinished scrapbooks, no more bemoaning my lack of artistic/sewing/gardening/cooking talent. No more 'shoulding' on myself, as it were.

So how is it that the bed is made, dishes done, laundry humming, baby asleep right now? Just a lucky day, I guess. I had the energy for it, baby cooperated, and my 'best' today included those things.

But absolutely no promises about tomorrow. And that's a LYE.

New Year

Clearly, December got away from me. I didn't post even once last month. But today is a day for new beginnings, so here I am, back at it, in time for a necessary (albeit somewhat boring) update:

I spent two glorious weeks at home in Colorado with my parents - Matt was there for just the first week, and Truman and I missed him when he was gone. I got to see some old friends and spend some much-needed time with my little sister. And I loved showing off my baby to anyone who would let me. The family took excellent care of us, mostly by providing a never-ending supply of food; thus, I will be spending the majority of 2008 trying to work off the last two weeks of 2007. I also enjoyed my first white Christmas in years, waking up on Christmas morning to thickly falling snow. It was quite picturesque.

At one point during the trip, I was lamenting the fact that I had forgotten Truman's "Baby's First Christmas" outfit - I'd been planning on dressing him in it for Christmas morning since before he was born. So my mom secretly bought him this:
...which Matt put on him to surprise me just before we opened presents. Speaking of which, the boy got presents from both sets of grandparents, but zero from us. I told him to get used to it.

Now that we're all back together in Utah, I have all kinds of plans and goals for the new year. I would list a few of them here, but that would make me accountable for a lot more than I am comfortable with. So suffice it to say that I am beginning 2008 with the best of intentions but the lowest of expectations. Happy New Year!

Pics et cetera

Some of my latest favorite pictures of the boy. Looking like Uncle Sam in his "I want YOU to change my diaper" onesie:


And grinning big at his favorite time of day:




I love this boy! He is getting so big and cute!

In other news, I asked Cory at Scouts what he did for Thanksgiving..."I got pinkeye." As for us, we had a great time - and lots of good food - at my brother's house, then enjoyed a whopping SEVEN different kinds of dessert at Matt's sister's. Since then I've been listening to Christmas music as often as I can and even created a count-down paper chain - let the holidays begin!

Seven

I was tagged by happy mommy to do 'seven' (or sevenses, as it were).

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged.

My Seven...

1) I am eternally counting. When I have to do something repetitive and boring -- for example, blow dry my hair -- I count up to a predetermined number to help the time pass. And if that's not weird enough, I can't end on just any old integer; it has to be a multiple of 25.

2) I hate buying toilet paper. Now don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the stuff. It's just that every time I buy it, I feel like my money is quite literally going down the drain.

3) Whenever I open a package of something I don't use very often (say, cotton balls), I think "I wonder how my life will be different by the rime I finish with these." Because, in all likelihood, it will be months or even years later. So what most people ponder on birthdays and holidays, I do regarding toiletry items.

4) I am a grammar/spelling freak and a word nerd to the point that I can remember the exact circumstances under which I learned certain words. (Elixir: Second grade, Mrs. Weber's language arts class. I went home that day and was pleased to find my new word on a bottle of Dimetapp.)

5) When I find myself looking down from a high place, I am always just a little bit afraid that I'm somehow accidentally going to jump off. Should I be concerned about that?

6) Per a previous post, I have very dramatic, vivid dreams. I've fallen into comic strips, sung in night clubs, gone spelunking, and saved the Conference Center - in my dreams!

7) There was a time in my life when I added Grape Nuts to every cereal I ate. I just couldn't get enough crunch into my bowl, I guess. I haven't done this recently, but it's mostly because Grape Nuts haven't been on sale. I did have a dream the other night though (see random thing #6) that I walked into a pantry that was filled with Grape Nuts, and I'm thinking that my crunching days are soon to return.

I'd like to hear seven random things about Doc, Karlet, Jill, Sonja, Chilaxin' Chilean, Lou, and Ronco.

Life is

So I've been trying not to go more than a week without posting something, but here we are a few days short (or should I say long?) of the mark. Baby is asleep now, and I really should be cleaning my house. I'm not.

Matt's concert last night went great, I thought - there was a good variety of well-played music, and even an impromptu (and LENGTHY) encore from the small group that was featured during one of the pieces. I guess life is full of surprises...

Sort of like the unexpected phone call I got yesterday that the only man I have ever called Grandpa (and more often UDell) is in the hospital. A case of pneumonia prompted chest x-rays, which led to a biopsy of spots on his lungs and...well, I won't give all the details, but we ended up visiting him in the ICU yesterday afternoon. Separately, while one of us stayed with the boy, because "there are bugs in the ICU that would wipe out a three-month-old in less than 24 hours," according to the smiling nurse. Life is a little scary sometimes.

Still no word on what's ailing him, just more tests and waiting and praying that my grandmother doesn't outlive another husband. I realized this morning that when my 'real' grandpa died, he was just a year older than my dad is now. My mother was the age of my oldest sister when she lost him. Makes life seem way too short.

In spite of yesterday's sad news which should have given me some perspective, I still managed to be distraught about a couple of loaves of failed bread (Anne, you're not alone!) and the fact that my baby screamed for the babysitter. Speaking of which, I can hear him waking up now...I guess life just is what it is.

Even so, I was happily exhausted when I fell into bed last night after a day full of visiting, baking, enjoying and entertaining. My last thought as I drifted off to sleep was "Life is wonderful."

Smörgåsbord (a little of everything, please...)

From Cub Scouts this week (not exactly worthy of 'gems' distinction, but at least an honorable mention):

Brittany: "So what are some situations where you might need courage? Like at school if someone's picking on you, do you need courage? Yes, New Scout?"
New Scout: "My puppy died."
B: "Oh - I am so sorry! Uh...it takes courage to get through something like that."

A little later...

B: "So if you get in a car accident and someone is badly hurt, should you move him?
NS: "No."
B: "That's right. And why not?"
NS: "Because you might get blood on you."

I can tell we've got a new winner on our hands!

Speaking of winning, I am -- against the evils of too many treats, that is. Unwilling (at least at the moment) to go cold turkey where the good stuff is concerned, I have adopted Sonja's one-a-day plan, plus I've exercised every day since that post. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, just trying to create some accountability. Thanks for the encouragement in your comments, by the way - at least I'm not alone!

In other news, I voted for the first time in my life yesterday. I know, I know - I've been eligible to vote for over 5 years and only yesterday did I do my civic duty. Too bad it took me an excruciatingly long 20 seconds to figure out where in the machine to put my electronic voting card, then I had to read all the directions twice to make sure my vote would be counted correctly. (As Matt asked later, "No problems with dimpled chads, were there?") Thank heaven there were only three things to vote on or my brain might have overheated from the exertion...

Last but not least, "Squirt" (as we've taken to calling him) officially turned three months old yesterday. I cannot believe how much I love this little boy.

That's it from here - thanks for listening.

Junk in the Trunk

It seems like a good day for getting skeletons out of the closet, so here's one of mine: I can't seem to get enough junk into my diet. And despite the ever-increasing volume of the voice inside my head that says I should know better ("You graduated in FITNESS for crying out loud!"), and the ever-sickening feeling in my stomach, I just keep downing the treats.

It doesn't help that I baked some not-so-nasty sugar cookies yesterday, in honor of Halloween of course. (Hey, I don't have any decorations up, I didn't wear a costume - I had to do something.)

And it's not my fault that my friend Alicia brought over some de-licious cookies of her own last night, complete with tasty, colored frosting and candy faces.

I could blame the burned-out porch light which prevented many trick-or-treaters from begging at my door and left me with two full bags of candy, or - I know! - the grocery store for selling goodies in those big, irresistible bins at the front.

The truth is, my willpower goes from Some to None in two seconds flat when high-fructose corn syrup is involved.

It does feel good, at least, to get it off my chest like this - a confession of sorts. The first step is admitting the problem, right?

And so begins the newest in a long line of failed fitness regimens - this one called Operation: Be More Like Bryanna - which I am going to start...uh, tomorrow.

In the meantime, somebody hand me a Snickers.