I'm Baaa-aack!!

Ok, I'm sorry, I've been away too long. Life just keeps getting in the way of me maintaining my commitment to my blog! Seriously. But I've got my focus back now and I'm ready to hit the ground running. Tomorrow will bring a new, fresh, exciting entry to my blog. Alright, at the very least, there will be a new entry. That's the most I can commit to right now...

Wood Splitting

Well, it's wood splitting (and stacking and moving and stacking some more) time at my house. I have handled more wood in the last few days than I care to remember. (That doesn't sound quite right, but you know what I'm talking about so grow up already!) We heat our house all winter long with only our woodstoves so getting this all pulled together is kind of a big deal. I was in charge of running the splitter today. Joe puts the log up there and then I pull the lever that makes the hydraulic, super strong splitter, split the log. I think it should be mentioned here that Joe and I have been "fighting" for the past couple of days. Interestingly enough, we've been "fighting" about communication issues. But I digress.

Anyway, my job is to keep my eyes on Joe's hands to make sure that I don't crush them in the splitter. My job sounds easy but it's not. It's complicated because the instructions that I receive while doing my job is sketchy at best. Joe communicates to me while we're splitting wood through a series of head nods, grunts, and gestures, none of which are very clear. You can understand why I've been pushing for us to work on "better communication". Anyway, I was running the splitter and he was nodding and grunting and gesturing and I guess I misunderstood what he was trying to say (BECAUSE HE WASN'T ACTUALLY SAYING ANYTHING) and I pulled the lever when I shouldn't have. Let me be clear - he wasn't injured. Luckily. Still, based on the situation, the probability was high that he COULD have been injured, which was enough to make him yell at me. 

I don't respond well when people yell at me. Even if I might have almost just accidentally crushed that persons' hand - I don't like to be yelled at. This brings me back to my original issue with the whole thing which is that Joe needs a boy friend to split wood with. Boys seem to get, nay cherish, the idea that there's not a lot of talking involved in wood splitting. I figure it's a good time to catch up with each other, albeit over the sound of a huge John Deere tractor running in the background. Boys don't see it that way. They like the fact that they can spend time together and not have to speak. I will never understand men, I swear. Anyway, after the near crushing and the yelling, my feelings were hurt and I didn't want to work anymore. I'm not a total baby. I kept at it and got the job done, but now I'm waiting for flowers and an apology. I suppose that men will never understand women either...

Toy Story 3 - Spoiler Alert

We watched Toy Story 3 the other night. In reality, the movie should instead be titled, Toy Story 3 - Not at all what you'd expect because the previous 2 movies were really sweet and this one serves only to rip your heart out a million different ways until you're sobbing uncontrollably while your kids beg and plead to attend community college so they never have to leave you.

I mean really!! The kid is leaving for college in this movie - you know the kid, Andy, who was so cute and little and loved his toys desperately and with reckless abandon. So to promote the idea of Andy growing up, sad music is playing as we bounce between pictures of him as a small boy playing with his toys, to pictures of him as a young man packing to leave for college.

I sat there stunned. I mean, Max will be leaving for college in like 11 years!! And Zoe will be right behind him in 14 years!! Ok, ok, I get that I'm overreacting but the fact remains that time goes way too fast when it comes to kids. Max is already freaking out about leaving for 7th grade camp (in two years) and how he doesn't want to go away. So clearly, we're a family that plans ahead.

It's not like I don't know what's coming, obviously, it's just so different when it's YOUR life that will change. I know that it's all about ages and stages and that each phase should be celebrated and enjoyed. I know that in my head. But my heart gets all emotional about these things and then all is lost. I'm a sucker for a good cry. But Toy Story 3 went too far. My eyes were a WRECK the next day.

Ghost Hunter

Had a little bit of a situation going on last night. Max has been complaining that he feels afraid in his room at night. Not totally uncommon, to be sure. Still, acknowledgement was required. Upon further questioning he came up with some pretty scary stuff - feels like he's being watched, hears strange noises, etc. Beyond acknowledgement, that required action. I tend to run on the skittish side myself. I'm not usually one to head bravely into scary situations, but when you mess with my kids, well, all bets are off. Never having dealt with a ghost before, real or imagined, I headed into the room to take care of some business. I was armed with sage (for smudging) and crystals. I didn't really figure that this was something that warranted the use of holy water or anything and, to be fair, I'm not really authorized to use that anyway. (Methodists don't utilize holy water.) Could I sprinkle it with casserole? Methodists can rock a casserole... The whole point of this operation really was to make Max feel better. After much prayer, running dialogue and smoke (didn't really realize how smoky those sage sticks can get) the room was "clean", if not a little smelly. I explained the power of the crystals (but kind of made up their powers because I sort of forgot what they were) and Max was satisfied. But then of course, Zoe wanted her room cleaned too. A ghost hunters' work is never done...