Hanson Party of Five

OMG

Someone took my little girl and replaced her with this.

Baking Issues

So, this has been happening for a while now.  I'm guessing we're having this issue because we aren't mixing our batter well enough, but I was hoping for some feedback.

Whenever we make muffins or brownies, we get these weird pieces (for lack of a better word) of egg that isn't fully mixed into the batter.  So it's kind of like biting in to part of a cooked egg white, which isn't pleasant.  What gives, folks?

2 Be 2 Gether 4 Ever

She was so excited to be there she could hardly stand it.

I wasn't so sure how I had ended up 300 miles away from home, going to a college where I knew NO ONE.

It was 1994.  We had both just graduated from high school - her in Connecticut, and me in Florida.

It just so happened that we both had fathers that went to UGA.  Both played piccolo and made it into the Redcoat Marching Band.  Both ended up picking the same two days to do orientation.

She overheard me talking on the steps of Memorial Hall about being in the band.  (She's notorious for eavesdropping, still to this day.  We can't go to a restaurant without her trying to figure out what's going on at the table next to us.)  When she heard me say I was going to be in the band (insert "This one time at band camp . . . " joke of your liking), she just about peed in her pants.  So excited.

We ended up in the same smaller orientation group because we were both out of staters.  And had no idea why everyone in Georgia, when you asked them where they were from, told them the county name.  (Gwinnn-ey-ett)

We exchanged addresses at the end of orientation, because, ya know, this whole internet thing hadn't really taken on yet.  She wrote to me about going to the store with her dad to put together a first aid kit.  (Again, something that doesn't surprise me now that I have known her for almost 20 years.)  When her friends from home asked if she had made any friends, she just said, "Yes".   She was embarrassed by my name, so she just referred to me as "her friend".

Happy Birthday, "friend".  I love you.

By the Numbers

I've figured out what my ideal temperature.

Some very quick internet research says that I should move to San Diego.  Not sure that's a great fit for me.  Super cheap to find houses out there, I hear.

 

Vision

I went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago for my annual exam.

Did you know that they haven't changed that thing on the wall that has the random letters on it for years and years?

I have an internal debate about whether or not to tell the guy that I remember it before I even try to read it: EVOTZ2.

Don't you think they'd shake it up to catch people like me who could cheat?

Confessions: My brown boots

I'm really embarassed to admit this, but I've been wearing the same old brown boots from Payless for way too long.  Now they even have a hole in the side of one of them.  I've looked online for boots, and in stores, but can't find any I like.  Please don't tell my mom.

Faith: Seasons

I'm wrapping up a 14 hour day.  I started out getting ready for my first job before 6 a.m.  That ended at 4:30 p.m., and I've been doing the second shift since then. 

Second shift is very different than first shift.  First shift I sit down most of the time.  Nobody screams at me. 

Which is why I'm tired.  Looking at the clock at 8:15 p.m. and realizing I'm just going to have to do this all over again tomorrow is kind of disheartening.

I just finished reading a book called The Life Ready Woman by Shaunti Feldhahn.  I'd heard her speak at our church before, so I picked it up.  The picture on the front showed the cliche woman trying to juggle seven things, but I still made it all the way through.

The biggest thing I learned is to adjust your expectations or goals according to the season of life you are in.  I'm in the "Married with preschoolers" phase. 

This is probably not mind boggling to you, but it required an adjustment in my mindset.  One that I'm struggling with tonight.  Josh does an amazing job at keeping us on track, so when he asked me, "How can I pray for you?" tonight before we had our quiet times, I just said, "Stamina".

I'm pretty sure I did that laugh thing that you do when someone asks you a stupid question.  Josh's question wasn't stupid.  It was more of a "Oh yeah.  Let's wrap up second shift and spend time with God before I collapse on the couch out of sheer exhaustion."

But, God is so patient.  So, I kept folding the laundry and started chatting in my head with Him.  "I'm tired God."

And then I thought about Ecclesiastes 3 - the chapter the Beatles sang about in "Turn, turn, turn".  I remembered memorizing this in Mrs. Denton's English class in elementary school.  Had no idea what it meant at the time.

The whole "To everything there is a season" part reminded me of Shaunti's book.  And then I started thinking about what I'm expecting of myself during this season of life.  A perfectly clean house?  Obviously not.  (You would understand if you saw this place.  AND I've even broken down and had cleaners start coming once a month.)  Vegetables served and enjoyed at every meal?  Nope.  I'm satisfied with a can of black beans or some cut up carrots and cucumbers. 

So I'm not sure what my deal is.  I forget at times that where we are right now is hard.  We have freakin' twins, man.  That's hard.  Not as hard as it was when they were just born, but still.  A 4 year old and two 2 year olds is a lot.  Plus a full time job.  And a marriage to keep up with.  And a house.  And cars.  And that's just if everything is going according to plan.

So, there's my thoughts for the day.  Maybe I'll go lower my standards a little bit and watch Extreme Couponing or something.  Nah.  Then I'll just stress out about not saving enough when we go to the grocery store.  Maybe Survivor is more like it.

Understanding my mom

As my kids get older, I'm definitely having moments that I understand my mom a little bit more.  

Abby turned 4 this week, and her gift was the awesome bike:

When I picked it up from the store (already assembled, thank you Wal-Mart), I was so so so so so excited about giving it to her.  It's really awesome to buy gifts for your kids.  I can totally see why some parents just go overboard with gifts, especially on birthdays.

Even today, while I'm 34 years old, my mom still loves to take me shopping.  It's totally awesome.  

Maybe by the time my kids are my age, I'll have this whole thing figured out.

Penguin

Do you guys have that one random thing around the house that you can't seem to lose?  No, that wasn't a typo.  We lose things all the time around here, but we've got this one thing that we just can't shake.  It shows up at odd times in odd places and it kind of creeps me out. 

It's hard to tell how big he (I'm guessing it's a he) is from these photos, but the penguin is pretty small.  He's about the size of a half dollar.  Seems like it would be pretty easy to lose.  But he just keeps showing up.  So now I think it's kind of funny.  He's in our bathroom in the shot above.  And in the play room below.  Right next to Barbie's skirt.

Man Question

So, here's one for the fellas.

What's the deal when you guys are in the gym together?  How do you figure out which one is "the boss"?  

At the gym at work, there's a group of guys that work out together, and one of them is clearly the one that gets to boss the other ones around and says things like,"Ten more seconds!!!" or "You can lift more than that!"

I was just unclear on the rules as to how one gets to that position.