At JR's Work

5 Generations

I wish we could of gotten this pic before Grandmother was in the hospital.

Left to Right: Joseph (my dad), Uncle Leeroy (Dad's uncle), Zula (Leeroy's Mother), Filip (Zula's Great-Great-Grandson), Me (great-granddaughter)

Back Home

We got in around 11pm last night from Knoxville, TN. It was about a 9 hour trip, including our hour-long dinner break and stopping for gas.

I wanted Filip to sleep for the car ride, so I wore him out. I made him stay up late watching TV the night before. He woke up at his normal time anyway. Then we went on a long walk. He did a trip around both floors of the hotel, then he covered 3 parking lots. He played toys with the hotel manager and helped us pack the car. Then, we drove to the hospital, and he walked 4 floors of that. After lunch in the cafeteria, we were on the road at 2:30.

He slept the first 3 hours and woke up happy. After an hour of him being awake in the car, we took our dinner break. Then he watched me play video games and movies in the car for 2 hours, and fell asleep for the rest of the trip. Perfect!

Walk Walk Walk

Filip is sleeping better on this trip than at home. It's because I took him on 5 walks yesterday. He toddles all over the hotel property talking (jibber-jabber) his head off. Then, we went to the hospital, and he played animals with Grandmother and walked all over the floor she was on. Therefore, he slept through the night.
I think it also lends to him being self-disciplined. It's hard to go on a rampage when he has been walking and talking all morning. He's too worn out.

Not Home Sweet Not Home

Filip and I left town with my parents last night on short notice. My great-grandmother is in the hospital down here in Tennessee. This was the first time she's seen her great-great-grandson. She acts perky when we talk to her, but you can tell she's pretty sick. So we're going to be here for a few days and try to be of service to my great-uncle, who has been the only one there to care for his mother.

When JR and his boss got back in town, Ravi was talking how nice people are in Dallas. I notice that in Tennessee as well. In fact, whenever I leave town, I notice strangers are nicer there than at home. I love leaving the DC area!

I don't see actual rude people where I live that often. I believe my own attitude will have a bearing on what kind of expressions I see on other people. Therefore, I smile when I walk down the street, and greet people I pass. So most (not all but most) people I see, react friendly back. If I don't do this, the average person will just walk by without making any contact.

Whenever I go somewhere besides my area, I notice more people take the initiative to be friendly. Today, in the Knoxville TN hospital, I had young and old people, men and women strike up conversation with me! 4 people wanted Filip and I to sit and chat with them in their room.

In my experience, it hasn't been just in the South. I've visited Toronto, ON (Canada). People may be more reserved than in TN, but they smile. In upstate NY, people in stores will strike up conversation. I just don't see people smile as they walk down the street at home. It's rare for a fellow customer to chat with you in a store.

Granted, I may not have traveled extensively, so maybe my perspective is limited. But while I'm down here, I'm going to enjoy Tennessee people and their chatty ways. Besides, it kills time, which I have alot of in the hospital right now.

MST3K Candidate

Saw this movie last night. This is a great one to watch ironically. Even if you liked the movie seriously the first time, you should be able to make fun of it the second time.

It's 'Forrest Gump' meets 'A Beautiful Mind' meets 'Amadeus' meets 'Oliver Twist'.

It's about a boy who grows up in foster care because he was the product of a one-night-stand between a rock star and a concert celloist. He resists being placed with a real family, because he feels he can get back with his real parents through music. So he 'follows the music' to the streets of NYC and lives there for six months.

He gets discovered as a street musician and is accepted into Julliard without a real name, parents, address, phone number or a high school diploma. His Mom-turned-music-teacher finds out that he's actually alive during that short time that he is untrackable, living on the streets and studying in college. Or maybe he was living on campus for free? It dosen't matter. His Dad had given up playing in the band because he was so distraught over that one night and went into the business world.

So this is a family adventure of uniting the three through music and, you know, looking around for each other. It ends in an amazing climax of more music, and looking around and finding each other.

Yum

Bunny Regrets

I thought it was a great idea to bring the bunnies into the house. I woke up Filip to see them. He liked it, but as I carried the sick bunny out, I noticed 2 deer ticks flake off the bunny onto my hand. I brushed it off right away.
Now, I have the heebie-jeebies thinking there are Lyme disease ticks on us. I gave Filip a bath and examined him all over. I still feel itchy everywhere.

Also I think the sick bunny is going to die. He seems paralyzed. He just lays on one side in the yard and lets ants crawl all over him.

Bunnies

Dylan found two of these little guys trapped in our basement window under the rainguard.

Two baby bunnies. One was real listless when I took her out. The other one was feisty, and squeeled when I caught her. We're going to let them go once Filip wakes up and sees them.

BFF

Another play date. They have so much fun together.

Socks

JR is on a business trip in Dallas. He called me and said he caught the microwave on fire in his hotel room. The fire alarm went off early in the morning they were just shy of having the sprinklers come on. His boss (who is rooming with him) was not happy about it.

He told me it's because I didn't pack his socks. Actually, he did all the gathering of his stuff. It was my job to actually put the stuff he collected, in his suitcase. So the gathering of his socks was his responsibility.

Anyway, I played a role in this oversight, because he HAD pulled out his socks along with his underwear the night before. When I saw them in the morning, they were on the floor, and their basket was not put away. I assumed Filip woke up in the middle of the night and started to play in the laundry. So I put them away.

This led to JR only having the socks he was wearing on the business trip. I know he got them all sweaty, because nothing comes between him and his workout routine, and he dosen't care if he wears dress socks or sports socks for it. This being the case, he had to wash his socks by hand. Since he was in a rush, he couldn't wait for them to dry naturally. So, he put his polyester socks in the microwave and hopped into the shower.

So that's how it happened. They caught on fire in the microwave. He said they were all melted on the plate and the room was filled with smoke. He ruined the only socks he had, so he had to wrap paper towels around his feet and wear his loafers like that at his class.

I think the tragic part of this, is that neither he, or his boss thought this was funny. I was laughing the whole time he told me. He said that maybe he could see the humor, if he was 1,200 miles away from the 'situation' like I was. He gave me permission to tell this story on my blog. So maybe someone else could appreciate the story as something to make them laugh.

Airport

I took Filip to the Frederick Airport today. We sat and watched small planes taxi around and take off. I think he liked it. He'll be alot more into it the next time. He never acts excited the first time he see's something.
He was more excited about the cat he saw there wandering the parking lot.
The Airport also has a little restaurant that overlooks the place where they keep the airplanes. It looks like a little diner. Maybe we'll check it out one day.

Dance

My son can dance. He so gets this from me.

Getting My Life Together

I implemented a new exercise routine, and personal study routine to go with my Flylady housekeeping routine.

For exercise, I make sure I do these four things each day:
1. Walk
2. Core exercise/strength training
3. Stretch
4. Jump on trampoline

For personal study I do each of these five things a day:
1. Daily Text
2. Read from a publication (now YPA2 book)
3. Prepare for a meeting
4. Do something on my personal study list
5. Bible Reading

My goal is to fit each of those 9 things in throughout the day between service and work. If I miss an item, I don't worry about catching up. I just try to do better the next day. The point is to have a routine of accomplishing things, not being perfect.

Now instead of these things being a chore, I look forward to it. I'm amazed at how much time I have left over, when I implement routines. So more time for fun stuff!

Flea Market

Our neighbor has a flea market every Friday and Saturday from 9am to 3pm. I just picked up a huge bag full of connecting blocks for $4. Every time Filip walks past them, he goes "Ooooh" like he's never seen something that cool before. He can even say "block" now. It comes out as "bah" but I know what he's saying.
The flea market has some pretty decent stuff. It's good if you need kitchen stuff. There is a whole 50 cent table full of things like mashers, measuring cups and cake tins. Also, they sell summer vegetables there.

Craft Party

This is part of the craft party I had this evening. It turned out nice. We had room for everyone to draw, cross-stitch, scrapbook, knit, decorate hard hats, make greeting cards, and make jewelry.
It was a bunch of girls, so JR hid out in the basement until it was time for him to go to another party he was invited to.
I made 6 paper woven, and origami greeting cards to add to my stationary supply.
Filip had fun trying to taste people's beers and make a mess of his toys. He failed in the beer tasting, but did well in messing up with toys.
The food was simple, but we had alot. Danishes, French bread and cream cheese, a watermelon, salsa and chips, cookies, chocolate turtles, and grapes.
I think I'm going to have another one next month. Alot of people missed, and want to come next time.

You're Invited (maybe)

Today we had the CO and his wife for lunch. Also, Leeza, Kelsi, Agata, Anitra and Stephanie were invited. JR did the inviting. I imagine his inviting all females, had to do with the amount of food women ate in comparison to men. I believe the other factors included in his decision were if we liked them, if they were in service today, and if they dominate conversations or not.

When we're with people that we don't see very often, it's smart to not let someone who generally dominates be around. It is a total waste of time spending with the people you don't see much. This is because the dominating one leads (or just talks) the whole time, and it's like you're only hanging with that person.

However, if you're having a party for people you see all the time, a person like that can be a good thing. Some are so charismatic that they entertain the entire party while you attend to host duties. It's also good to invite a dominate person if you want to keep the group together to do a single activity, instead of splintering off into separate conversations.

I tend to prefer the 'no direction' type parties if there are people there I never get to talk to. However, if they're people that I do see often, or I just don't really want to talk to them, the parties where we all play the same game or activity is fun.

The guests at a party are an important factor in whether it is a success. It's probably even more important than what you eat or do at the party.

Note:I notice that when I talk about inter-personal type subjects, people tend to think I was thinking about them when I wrote this. Maybe I was. I don't know who reads this. If you see yourself in any of my postings, don't be conclusive about what inspired me to write. I have alot of experiences to draw from.

Long, cold winter

Check out this wooly caterpillar on my finger. His fur is thick. I think that means we're going to have a really cold winter. Also, you can't tell, but there are even hairs on him that's twice as long as the rest.
Filip would have nothing to do with the caterpillar. He wouldn't even let me pick him up while I was holding it.

At Mom's House

Annie Dog

Sick Day

Filip is sick with a fever today. So he's been sitting in my nap snuggling all day long. He's gotten up to do a few things like sing karaoke, or play stacking cups. Here's him with the mic.

Work Work Work

JR and I are getting some new work to do. We get paid to submit pictures and information of properties to appraisal and valuation companies. JR goes out and takes pictures of the houses, and brings them home. I upload the pictures and fill out the form with information on the property.
It's a pretty easy job, but it's tedious. We have to enter all the selling facts about the subject property with comments on every section. Then, we have to research 6 other properties that compare to the subject, and submit the same information.
It takes a long time, but money is money.